Titan Legends Volume Three: The Sacred Swords
by Link the Teen Titan
Summary: During a date with Link, Starfire ends up getting kidnapped by Slade. He intends to use her power in an attempt to gain ultimate power: the Triforce. Even after obtaining the Master Sword, Link is unable to defeat Slade, who reveals a very dark secret. After escaping, Link and Starfire go to Tamaran in an attempt to find help, and discover that there is another sacred sword.
1. 1: Friend or Foe?

**Titan Legends Volume 3. In this volume we're introduced to a new character: Rose Wilson (Slade's, a.k.a Deathstroke's, daughter). I am uncertain if in the original comics she was out for revenge, or if she wanted to be like her father, but in my fanfiction she is out for revenge; and it turns out she knows Link, and reveals a vague backstory involving him. We also see the return of the fabulous Lord Ghirahim.**

* * *

Chapter One: Friend or Foe

It was almost noon that day, when we all heard of some kind of commotion going on downtown. Being the heroic team that we were, we went to investigate. My name is Link, by the way, and I am a member of the Teen Titans, a team of heroes who defend Jump City (weird name, I know). Aside from me, the other team members, who are also my very good friends, include Robin, the serious and determined team leader; Cyborg, a man who is half mechanical, but still human; Beast Boy, a kid who can quickly change into any animal, almost as quick as he is quick witted; Raven, a very mysterious girl who is adept at shadow magic; and of course, Starfire, a girl from another planet, who's both strong in battle and kind in heart, and I also… well… have a crush on her. As for me, well, I'm a swordsman in a green hat and tunic, and not much is known about me… not even by myself! But since I joined the Titans, things have been starting to make a bit more sense.

As for the trouble we went to investigate, when we arrived on the scene we saw an oddly dressed character that we had never encountered before. It was a girl from the looks of it, and she was wearing a silver and black jumpsuit adorned with light brown armor. She was also wearing a mask over her head and eyes, with her long white hair sticking out of the back. She had apprehended an innocent bystander and had him by the neck, with a long sword in her other hand. She was threatening him, but why?

"Tell me what I want to know!" She demanded angrily. "Where can I find Slade?!"

Did I hear that correctly? The others had heard it too. This girl was looking for Slade? Slade was a criminal mastermind that operated within this city. Before I had joined the Titans, they had had a number of less-than-pleasant encounters with him, and more recently, after a… incident of sorts… I found out that Slade was the man who had killed my parents, Daniel and Mary Skyward, in the past.

Why did this girl want to find Slade? Whatever the reason, it looked like she was going to extreme measures, as she held her sword right in front of his throat. The man kept claiming that he knew nothing, but it didn't seem like she was listening. At that point, Robin gave us the signal to intervene.

"Hey, you!" Robin shouted towards the girl. "You really shouldn't play with knives."

Robin said that as a way to provoke the opponent. He does that in most of our battles, as do the others sometimes. The girl then dropped the man, who ran for his life, and then turned around to face us. Now that I saw the front of her mask, I noticed that it had two eye openings that looked a lot like the ones on Slade's mask. Was she an accomplice of Slade or something?

"Ah, you must be the Teen Titans." She said smugly. "Nice to meet you, but I'm afraid I'm a little busy right now."

"You can't just threaten people and expect to get away with it! Whatever you're busy with, it's going to have to wait, because we're dealing with you now!" Robin warned her.

She chuckled after she heard that. Robin threw one of his bird-a-rangs at her, but she managed to dodge it. Starfire attempted to strike her with several starbolts, but she dodged those too. In fact, she dodged practically everyone's attacks, and managed to get in some hits of her own, with a fighting style that seemed familiar. It was like how Slade battled, but at the same time, different. Eventually, she found an opening to escape, but before she did, she gave us a warning.

"If you see Slade… let him know that the Ravager has a score to settle with him." She said.

She then ran down a nearby alleyway. The others were going to stop, but I decided to go after her. I wanted to find out what this girl has to do with Slade. I ran down the alley, trying my hardest to keep up with her. Eventually, she quickly climbed up a building at the end. I followed her up, though not as quick due to my equipment weighing me down. When I had got to the top, I couldn't see any sign of her. At first I thought she had gotten away, but when I turned around I saw the tip of her sword right in front of my face.

"Not bad for someone carrying all that stuff." She told me.

I knew she could see that the climb had worn me out a little, but still had plenty of fight in me. She looked like she was going to attack, but all of the sudden she stopped. She looked at my face rather closely for some reason.

"Hey… you look familiar. Have we met?" She asked me.

I was confused by her action. I had never seen this girl in my life, and I informed her of that, but she wasn't convinced.

"No, no… It definitely feels like I've seen you somewhere before." She said.

She pondered this assumption for a moment before finally arriving at a conclusion.

"No way! You're Daniel's kid!" she proclaimed. "You're Skyward's son aren't you?!"

"WHAT?! How could you possibly know that?!" I asked her.

"Cause my dad and you're dad were like best friends! I met you when you were just a baby!" she answered.

She then took off her mask, revealing light blue eyes underneath. She stepped towards me as if I were a friend of hers, but I was still wary.

"Sorry for the rough reception. I'm Rose Wilson." She said while holding out her hand in greeting.

I couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not, but I wasn't exactly the kind of person to judge someone before I know them, so I shook her hand.

"Umm… I'm Link… uh, Skyward, apparently." I told her. "Wait a minute… Are you saying that Slade is your dad?!"

She turned her head in a look of what seemed like both disappointment and disgust.

"Yeah, he is… though a lot of the time I wish he wasn't…" She said.

* * *

It was around this time that the other Titans had caught up with me. I explained everything I had heard from Rose thus far, and Robin suggested that we take her back to the tower for 'interrogation'. He and Cyborg were prepared to take her there forcefully, but Rose insisted that she'd come willingly. Starfire, as always, asked if I was okay. I told her I was fine, and I was grateful for her concern.

Back at the tower we were all gathered in the interrogation room, which was simply a small room divided by a glass wall. Rose was on one side with her hands tied behind her back, while the rest of us were on the other side. Robin was ready to interrogate her. The first thing he asked her was who she was, and then why she was so intent on finding Slade.

"My name is Rose Wilson… known to some as the Ravager…" she told us. "As for why I'm looking for Slade, well… he's my father."

The others all gasped at that info. Apparently they were all surprised that Slade even had a daughter. I wanted to know what she meant when she said that she had a 'score to settle' with him, so I asked her.

"I want to make him pay for what he's done… and not just to your city… but also what he did to his own family… my family." She began. "It all started about sixteen years ago, here in Jump City. I lived here with my dad, Slade, and my mom, Laura Wilson. Dad was best friends with Daniel Skyward and his wife Mary. We had always gotten along, even if dad was a bit, well… icy at times."

"But soon after Link had been born, things started to change." She continued. "Link was suffering from a very strange condition where he wouldn't wake up, no matter how hard you tried. His condition just grew worse, with Mary barely able to feed him. My mom and I helped as much as we could, but dad… he apparently had something else on his mind. He began obsessing with this project that Daniel was working on, saying that it was more important than anything else. And when mom tried to convince him to forget about it, I don't know why but, he just went mad and began attacking us. He ended up killing mom, and I had thought he would kill me too, but he didn't. He said that I was weak and waste of time to kill."

"I ran away that day, but I vowed that someday I'd show him that I wasn't weak, and I would make him pay for destroying our family. I trained for years, swearing to ravage him like he did our family!" she finished, yelling out that last part.

The others were as moved by that story as I was. I then told Rose that I could relate to all of that. When she asked why, I told her. I told her that Slade, her father, had killed my parents too. She was shocked by that, as she had thought it was only her mother that Slade had killed. This info only made her want revenge on Slade even more.

"Rose, I understand how you must feel. But trust me… seeking revenge won't solve anything. It won't fix what has happened… it will only make you angrier and angrier, until that anger… consumes you." I told her. "Trust me… I know from experience."

Rose was puzzled by that comment, but Starfire explained to her that I had been through a horrible event involving Slade, one that had caused me to turn evil. I was cured of it, thanks to Starfire, but the knowledge of what I had been still haunts me.

* * *

All of the sudden, the Tower's alarm system went off, but it was not for a city emergency. There was an intruder inside the Tower. We all rushed out of the interrogation room into the ops room to try and figure out who the intruder was and where they were within the tower. From the Titan mainframe Cyborg pinpointed something moving in the evidence room, and we all raced there as fast as we could.

When we got there, the room was empty at first, but when we went in further, we all heard a voice from behind us. A voice I knew all too well.

"Well, what do we have here?! A housewarming for your uninvited guest?! Oh, you shouldn't have…" he said sarcastically.

We all turned around to see a tall pale-skinned man in a white unitard and a red cape. He also had white hair, in which half of it was covering eyes; sinisterly purple eyes. He flicked his fair and chortled.

"I must say, your tower's defenses are not very sound." He said mockingly. "It only took me a few seconds to get in."

"Hey! No one disses my tower!" Cyborg yelled at him.

"Enough fooling around! Who are you?!" Robin demanded.

"Oh, but of course! Link and his little friend Starfire know who I am, but I haven't introduced myself to the rest of you. Well, allow me to inform you. My name is Ghirahim." He answered.

Several of the others were a bit puzzled, be it by his appearance, tone, or simply the pronunciation of his name.

"Ghira-who?" Cyborg asked.

"Ghira-what?" Beast Boy also asked.

At that point I briefly filled them in about everything I knew about this man. How he was an accomplice of Slade who was sent to spy on me when I was on my three year journey around the world, and apparently he wasn't through with his 'eaves-dropping'.

"Oh, perish the thought. You really should be flattered Link, that you have a 'fan' such as me. You don't have any other ones… that's for sure." Ghirahim said smugly.

A fan? More like a stalker. Both Robin and I demanded he tell us why he was here. To answer, Ghirahim told us that his master had sent him to 'fetch' something from our tower. By master, I knew he meant Slade. Whatever he was after, we weren't going to let him have it.

I made the first attack, charging at him with my sword. But Ghirahim anticipated this, and grabbed my blade with only two fingers! I was able to break it free from his grip though, and he had apparently been distracted by this, because Starfire came flying in and punched him right in the chest. The blow sent him flying several feet backwards into the wall. Despite the heavy blow he got back up rather easily, and then suddenly disappeared.

I warned everyone to watch their backs, because it was more than likely that he would appear right behind one of us and attack. That is what he had done in the battles I had with him before, however he used a different tactic this time. Instead of appearing behind one of us, he reappeared overtop of Beast Boy and attempted to strike him with two black rapiers. Fortunately, Raven got him out of there just in time, and Ghirahim's swords were stuck.

As he was pulling them out, we all took advantage of his vulnerable state and pummeled him with various attacks. Still, even after all this, Ghirahim was still going.

"Quite the impressive team you're a part of kid." Ghirahim told me. "But tell me… are they ready for _this_?!"

After a second of thought, I knew what he was going to do. I tried to warn everyone about his next attack, but I wasn't quick enough. Ghirahim snapped his fingers, and suddenly nearly a dozen levitating black daggers encircled each of us. I saw this coming and parried them away with a spin attack, but the others weren't so lucky. They were each hit by Ghirahim's attack full force. Everyone screamed in agony as the daggers pierced them. Fortunately, they were all stronger than I had been when I was first hit by that attack, as they were all still conscious. Even so, the attack had left them all severely wounded and barely able to move.

I now stood to face Ghirahim myself, as I had done before during my world-wide journey. I was more experienced now, but I knew that Ghirahim knew this. I activated my spirit mode powers, special powers that had been granted to me by the light spirit Lanayru, and stood ready to try and counter his next attack.

Ghirahim rushed at me, but before I could counterattack, he was hit by someone else, sending him into the wall again. I turned to see who had helped. It was Rose.

"Heh. I got out of those handcuffs a while ago." She said. "Good thing I did too. So who's this creep?"

I informed her of what had been going on here; about Ghirahim breaking in to try and steal something for Slade. When she found out that Ghirahim worked for Slade, she was even more eager to help me take him down.

"I believe I have toyed with you long enough. Time to get what I came for." Ghirahim said.

He then vanished for a second, and then reappeared in front of the north-most wall of the room. He grabbed three computer chips, one red, one blue, and one green.

"It's been fun. Tah-tah for now." Ghirahim said before he vanished.

* * *

Rose and I went to tend to the others, who were still injured from Ghirahim's dagger attack. We helped each of them to the infirmary. Everyone was rather surprised and impressed that I had had to face someone that strong one-on-one before. I told them it was nothing, though Cyborg said I was just being modest… as usual.

Both Rose and I asked about the computer chips that Ghirahim had taken. Robin informed us that Slade had tried to steal them a few years ago, but had been stopped. However, nobody knew what the chips were for. Cyborg had tried seeing what was on them, but the data on them had been protected by an extremely secure firewall that he was unable to get past. Whatever was on those chips, it must've been important.

After what had happened, everyone suggested that Rose should stay at the tower for a while. She was a bit reluctant at first, and Raven was sort of against the idea, but eventually we convinced her to stay, for at least a week. Having the daughter of our mortal enemy living under our roof didn't seem like all too good of an idea, but after she had helped us drive off Ghirahim, I felt like I could trust her… at least a little.

Still, this whole ordeal had me worried. Those computer chips that Ghirahim had stolen for Slade seemed really important. I don't think the data stored on them was any ordinary data. Slade was definitely stepping up his game. What was he planning?


	2. 2: Prank War - Link vs Beast Boy

Chapter Two: Prank War – Link vs Beast Boy

The day after our encounter with Ghirahim, the tension from the battle was dying down. The damage to the evidence room had been repaired, and Rose was doing her best to adjust to being here in the tower. Rose may have been Slade's daughter, but she was apparently more like her mother. I can relate. Although I never knew her personally, from what I had heard about my mother, Mary, I believed I was more like her than I was like my father. Though at the time, I wasn't exactly sure if that was a good thing or not.

Rose spent most of the day on the couch, often just staring out the window, or sometimes polishing her sword. When she wasn't on the couch, she was outside training relentlessly. She was almost as over-achieving as Robin, though considering her thoughts on getting revenge on Slade, I didn't exactly consider that a good thing.

* * *

Later that day, something… interesting had happened. I was in the kitchen getting a drink of water, when I overheard Beast Boy telling Starfire that he had a 'present' for her. She claimed that it was not her birthday, and asked if it was some Earth holiday that was being celebrated. Beast Boy claimed it was something like that, and then gave Starfire a medium sized paper. It was a coupon that apparently read 'this entitles you to "bimewan" pizza, free'. Starfire claimed that she liked the sound of it, but questioned the name of the pizza mentioned. Beast Boy explained it was some special kind of pizza and insisted that she use it right away. But I could tell from the mischievous look on his face that this was some kind of trick. I mean, c'mon; a "bimewan" pizza? Really?

I decided to follow Starfire to the pizza shop to let her know it was a trick. When I had gotten there though, she was already on her communicator asking Beast Boy why the coupon was not working. Beast Boy then told her to read the coupon again, saying it was free for him. The coupon entitled her to "buy me one pizza". I knew it. Beast Boy had tricked Star into buying him a pizza. I went up to say something.

"Hey, Starfire." I greeted her.

"Oh. Hello Link. What brings you here." She responded.

"I happened to overhear the conversation when Beast Boy gave you that fake coupon." I told her.

She sighed, and shrugged her shoulders with her head down slightly.

"Yes. It would seem I have fallen victim to another one of Beast Boy's pranks." She said.

"I don't think it was nice for him to take advantage of your… lack of Earthly knowledge like that." I told her.

"Perhaps." She responded. "But there is no harm done. Sure, it is rather… annoying. But still, no harm done."

She turned to face the counter and got out her money. Wait. Was she going to go through with this?! I asked her, and she claimed that it was the honorable thing. She had fallen for his trick, and now had to pay the price, which in this case was using her money to but Beast Boy a vegetarian pizza.

"But Starfire, the fact that he took advantage of you and tricked you was dishonorable. You shouldn't have to spend your money because of his trick." I proclaimed.

"I hardly needed this money anyway." She responded. "Besides… I'm not the kind of person to hold grudges over simple things such as this."

Well, she had me there. However, I suggested a different idea. We'd get Beast Boy his pizza, but we'd also give him a taste of his own medicine. Starfire claimed that she was not aware that Beast Boy took medications. Starfire's naiveté was just so cute sometimes.

I rephrased what I said, and suggested that we should prank Beast Boy back. This way, he would know what it's like. Starfire was curious as to how we would do this. It was simple; load his pizza with meat, but disguise it as veggies. Beast Boy could not stand to eat any form of meat, probably due to him being able to change into any animal. Starfire was a little bothered by the idea at first, but I promised her that we would only do it this one time. After she agreed, we set the plan into motion.

* * *

When we returned from the pizza shop, we gave Beast Boy his pizza. He was a bit skeptical as to why I was with Star, but then mentioned the fact that I'm almost _always_ around her. So while he was opening the pizza box, Starfire and I were in the kitchen pretending to be occupied with other things. When Beast took one bite of his pizza, he immediately spat it out.

"Hey this isn't vegetarian, it's…" he began to say. "DUDE! THERE'S MEAT ON THIS PIZZA!"

It was at that point that Starfire and I wheeled around to face him.

"Gotcha!" She and I both said.

"What?! You?! You guys did this?!" Beast Boy asked.

"Well, it was Link's idea." Starfire told him. "He did not like the way you tricked me, so he suggested the two of us get back at you."

"Yup. Not so funny when you're the one being pranked, is it?" I asked him smugly.

Beast Boy just sat there with a stupefied look on his face for a few seconds, which then turned into a mischievous glare directed at me.

"Okay dude, you got me. But now you're gonna wish you hadn't." He told me. "You better brace yourself, because I'm going to prank you so hard, that those cat ears of yours will fall off! The prank war has begun! You… have… been… warned…"

Beast Boy then sneakily crept into the hallway, all the while still staring at me and pointing. Cat ears? That one was new. What he had just said worried me a little, but Starfire told me not to worry, mentioning that she is really the only one who ever falls for his pranks. That made me worry a little less; I mean, what's the worst he could do?

* * *

It was later that evening that his string of pranks began. I was going through the fridge for an after-dinner snack. I remember leaving a small sandwich in there, so I pulled that out. I had noticed however that there was something different about it than when I last saw it. Instead of the usual stuff inbetween the bread, there was this greenish gelatin-like substance in its place. I recognized it as something that Starfire often cooks. I believe she called it Glorg.

To anyone else in the tower, this may have made them drop the sandwich immediately, and Beast Boy's prank would've worked. But he forgot one thing: I happened to like Starfire's cooking. So instead of dropping the sandwich, I just went ahead and ate it. It wasn't bad either; tasted kind of like… chicken flavored yogurt, or something. Beast Boy happened to have been watching out of sight, and I very faintly heard him say something.

"Oh… he's good." He said.

His next attempt at pranking me happened around noon the next day. I was in the ops room reading the strange book that Raven had given me a while back. Rose was outside training, so the couch was free for me to use.

Though I couldn't understand the text, it did have some weird pictures in it; Such as a castle that looked like it was underwater, an image of a sword that had wings on its hilt, and a picture of some mechanism that resembled a train. There was also this really creepy picture of a heart-shaped face with spikes surrounding it, and two wide-opened eyes that seemed as if they were peering into my soul. Something about that picture bothered me and I quickly turned the page.

As for Beast Boy's prank well, apparently he had turned into a spider and placed a lit match under one of my feet. The idea was that when the fire hit my foot, I'd get burned, and then he'd jump out and say 'gotcha!' I had noticed the match, but I wasn't burnt by it.

"Nice try Beast Boy, but my boots are fireproof." I told him.

He wasn't in plain sight, but I knew he was there hiding somewhere. Though I heard him say 'dang it', and then he left the room, most likely to come up with a new way to prank me.

His other attempts over the next few days were about as equally ridiculous, such as switching my shampoo with mustard, or covering my sword in butter. Obviously none of those attempts worked. However, after a while he came up with a prank that had almost got me.

* * *

About five days after this whole 'prank war' started, I found a letter in front of the door of my room. I picked it up and opened it, and what I read kind of surprised me. It read:

_Dear Link,_

_I was wondering if you would like to go with me on a date. I'd think it most wonderful if you agreed. _

_Love, Starfire_

Had I read that correctly?! Was this really a letter from Starfire asking me to… go out with her?! I read it again, and afterwards I felt a very warm feeling in my heart. Was she really willing to put aside all the terrible things I did when I was… not myself, and give me a chance?

I decided to go talk to her, and see of this was true. I knocked on her bedroom door, and after a few seconds, she opened it and stood in front of me.

"Oh, hi Link. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" She asked me.

"Well, umm… I found this letter in front of my door, and was wondering… did you send it?" I asked her back.

She questioned the concept and asked to see the letter. I handed it to her, and after she examined it, she gave me her response.

"Link, I did not write this letter." She told me.

"But… then where did it come from?" I asked.

After only a moment of thought, she had come to the obvious conclusion.

"Oh. I think Beast Boy may have forged this letter as a way to prank you…" She told me.

This was a prank?! Okay, Beast Boy's pranks had been tolerable before, but this was going too far! He and everyone else in the tower knew about the way I felt about Starfire… everyone except Rose that is, because she's new.

"So… you don't really want to… go 'out' with me?" I asked her, disappointed.

She was able to see how upset I was about this, that I had been eager to spend time with her. I was expecting her to simply apologize for the misunderstanding, but she had a different idea.

"Link, you offered to help me get back at Beast Boy for pranking me, so I am going to help _you_ this time." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, curious.

"What I mean is…" she answered. "I think that you and I… should go 'out'."

My eyes widen in surprise when she said that. She honestly wanted to go out with me?! She explained to me that by doing this, Beast Boy will know that his prank had failed, and thus be deprived of the satisfaction of winning this 'war of pranks'. It was actually a pretty clever idea. In all honesty, Starfire is a lot smarter than she's given credit for. I decided to go along with it. I mean, even a 'pretend' date with Starfire would be fun. However, I would soon find out that it would actually be more than that… a lot more.


	3. 3: In the Light of the Spring

Chapter Three: In the Light of the Spring

I had gone to my room after my conversation with Starfire. Beast Boy had tried to prank me using a fake letter that was meant to be written by Starfire. The letter was asking if I would go out with her. Both Starfire and I recently realized that it was prank attempt from Beast Boy. However, she suggested that we do go out to make it seem like Beast Boy's prank had failed; and hopefully, that would end this ridiculous prank war.

I was standing in front of the mirror in my room, trying to get myself ready. Starfire had told me to meet her in the ops room in about fifteen minutes. Until then I attempted to straighten myself up. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get my hair right, and the only outfit I had to wear was my dusty old green tunic and the outfit I wore underneath it. I had wanted to go out with Starfire more than anything, even if it was just pretend. I just hoped that my appearance wouldn't ruin it.

A few minutes later I went into the ops room. Beast Boy was sitting rather lazily on the couch with a smug look on his face, almost as if he knew I'd be here. He was probably expecting me to question him about the fake letter, but his little prank wasn't going to work. Beast Boy turned his head around to face me.

"Hey Link. What brings you here?" he said, chuckling softly afterwards.

"Oh, nothing. Just waiting for Starfire." I told him while I smiled.

A moment later, Starfire floated into the room and stood right next to me. She was also wearing her usual outfit; it didn't matter though, I thought she was beautiful no matter what.

"Hello, Link. Are you ready to go?" she asked me.

I replied with a nod. Beast Boy looked confused and asked where we were going.

"Link and I are going out." She answered. "Is that not wonderful?!"

"Yeah. She sent me a letter asking about it, and of course I agreed." I told Beast Boy.

Beast Boy looked even more confused and began to babble unintelligibly.

"But… but… that letter… I... you… it was…!" he blabbered.

"The letter was _what_ Beast Boy?" Starfire asked him smugly.

Beast Boy then took a moment to think about what he'd say next. At this point he likely realized that his prank had failed. He simply decided to tell us to enjoy ourselves on our date and then quietly turned back around. Before Starfire and I left the ops room, I was able to hear the last thing Beast Boy said.

"Oh… He's good…" he said.

* * *

Starfire and I continued walking to the front door while we held each other's hand. Once we were outside, I let go and thanked her for helping me get back at Beast Boy by pretending to go out with me. Starfire however, was a bit confused with my statement.

"Pretend?" She asked me. "Link… what do you mean by pretend?"

"Umm… that's what this was, wasn't it? We were pretending to go out to fool Beast  
Boy… weren't we?" I asked in response.

"But Link, I… I really do want to go out with you… for real." She told me.

Wait. This hadn't been just to fool Beast Boy? She really did want to go out with me… on a date?! I questioned her about this, and she claimed that this was correct. Of course I would've wanted to go on a date with her, but at the same time I was a little frightened about what Robin might do to me if he found out.

"Link, I broke up with Robin." She said. "And besides, the decision to go out with you is my choice. Robin has no say in this."

This was all true, but I was still worried a little. I knew Robin wouldn't exactly be happy to know I was going out with his ex-girlfriend. However, I wasn't so scared that I'd say no. I happily agreed to go out with her.

"Okay… so... where would you like to go?" I asked her.

"Well... I was thinking that we could visit your hometown, Lanayru Village." She answered while looking to the east.

I was rather surprised by her choice. I would've thought she'd choose some place like the movie theater or the pier, but my hometown? I questioned why she wanted to go there. She told me that she had been there before while I was possessed and working for Slade, and that she wanted to visit there again, but this time with me.

In particular, she wanted to visit Lanayru's spring with me; the place where I had gone in the past to relax. It made me feel happy that she wanted to visit a place that had meant a lot to me. I agreed, but questioned how we would get there, without having to travel for days. She suggested that she could fly us there. Of course; in all of this confusion I had nearly forgotten that she could fly. I took hold of her hand and then we flew off together.

* * *

About half an hour later, we arrived at the front gate to Lanayru Village. It looked pretty much the same as it had when I had left it three years ago. Of course, this included the house of Roland Nobleman, my deceased mentor. While we walked through the village, I noticed how many of the villagers were giving us strange looks; most likely because of how different our outfits were to the rest of them.

"Link, perhaps we should visit the spring now." Starfire suggested.

I thought that to be a good idea, so we headed for the path within the forest that led to the spring. However, about halfway there, we encountered three young men blocking our path. They appeared to be from the village, and it did not seem like they would let us pass.

"Well, well… what do we have here? A kid in a dress, and his little girlfriend." One of them remarked.

"It's a tunic." I proclaimed. "And she and I are just friends."

"Heh! Whatever, just hand over your goods!" He demanded.

Now I knew what was going on; these three were bandits trying to rob us. I wasn't going to let them, but I then realized I had left my sword and shield back at the tower! When they came at me I tried defending myself with the hand-to-hand techniques that Robin had taught me. It wasn't working very well though, so I went into spirit mode to give myself a better chance. While in spirit mode I was able to attack faster, and the bandits were losing. Then suddenly, one of them spoke out.

"Wait a minute. I remember you. You were Nobleman's apprentice. You were the freak that no one wanted to be around!" He remarked.

That comment made me remember back then, when no one wanted anything to do with me. Those memories made me lose focus, and I took punch straight in the face. The bandit laughed, but was then hit by Starfire, which slammed him into a nearby tree.

"Link is NOT a freak! He happens to be my best friend!" she told the bandits angrily.

"Well then… you'd be the first, missy." He said as he recovered from the attack.

Starfire then shot one of her starbolts at the ground right in front of the bandit, as a warning not to come any closer. The mere sight of Starfire using her starbolts freaked out the bandits.

"What the…?!" He began to say. "Y-you… You're a freak like him!"

After he said that, all three bandits ran away, most likely back to the village. I was glad that we had survived this encounter, but I was a bit upset that they had called us 'freaks.' Starfire insisted that I do not let it worry me, and that we knew that we were not freaks to each other. I smiled in response to her comment, and then the two of us continued on to the spring.

* * *

Lanayru's spring still looked as wondrous as it always had. The clearing was dotted with white flowers that most likely grew very well due to the pure clean water in the spring. Starfire commented that the area was very beautiful. Indeed it was; no doubt because of the light spirit's power. Lanayru served as the guardian of this region, and also as my guardian.

"Link… what those bandits from before said about you… that nobody ever wanted anything to do with you… that cannot be entirely true… is it?" Starfire asked me.

I had my head down in depression when she asked that, for it once again made me remember my younger days in the village; the days when I had no friends. When she saw how sad I looked she likely deduced that it was true.

"Back when I lived here in the village, no one… particularly liked me. Not even my own mentor. He only really looked after me because Lanayru told him to." I told her. "Whenever I was outside, I'd mostly just sit underneath a tree while the other children played. I… had never been invited to play myself…"

"Your childhood sounds like it was difficult… and lonely." Starfire assumed.

"It was…" I responded.

As I kept my head down in depression, Starfire took a few moments to think about something. She then looked around the spring, surveying the area for some reason.

"Hmm… in that case…" she began to say.

Before she completed her sentence, she very quickly placed her hand on my arm and giggled.

"Tag! You are it!" She said.

This action had surprised me greatly, and I quickly raised my head and turned to look at her. She was running in the opposite direction, and she urged me to follow and chase after her so I could tag her back. I had never played tag before, but it didn't seem like a fair game, considering the fact that she could fly. When I questioned her about this though she promised me that she would not use her powers of flight, in order to make the game more fair.

Once this was decided I happily joined in the game, during which we chased each other across the clearing and through the trees. Tagging each other back and forth; it was a bit crazy, but a lot of fun. Eventually she had lost sight of me and went into the middle of the clearing for a better look. At this point I jumped out and tagged her again, but it was bit too forceful and the two of us both fell down. I had hoped that I didn't accidentally hurt her, but my fears were soon put to rest, for she sat up and started giggling with joy; and as I saw her doing so, I started giggling too. This had been the most fun I had ever had in my life!

* * *

A few hours later, as the sun began to set, I suggested that the two of us return to the tower. However, Starfire told me that she wanted to stay at the spring for just a little longer. She went to sit down on the large mound of soil in front of the spring. She invited me to sit next to her, but she saw I was a bit hesitant, and asked why.

"It's just… the place you're sitting… it's… where my mother was buried…" I answered.

Hearing this Starfire immediately stood up and dusted off the area where she was sitting, and apologized for being so disrespectful. I told her that it was alright; after all, I don't think my mother would've minded too much if we… sat down with her.

"That is… a nice way of putting it Link." Starfire told me as she sat back down. "I heard about your mother from Lanayru… and from what I heard… she was a very brave woman."

"Yeah…" I said as I sat down next to her. "I… just wish that she didn't have to…"

I wasn't able to finish my sentence, but Starfire knew what I was going to say; that I wished that she didn't have to have died to save me. Starfire saw a tear fall from my eye, and she put her hand on my shoulder. I could see from the look in her beautiful green eyes that she felt sympathy for me.

"I know it is hard for you Link, with your mother and father having been unjustly taken from the world, and you having been left here without them…" she told me. "But do not let their sacrifice be in vain… you should honor their bravery… with your own…"

It was hard to tell what she had meant by that, but I quickly figured it out. She meant that I shouldn't simply mourn their passing, that I should honor them by continuing what I was doing now; being a hero, just like they had been. While we both knew that my parents did not have powers like we do, they had still been heroes in their own right… and even more so to me.

All of the sudden, the spring in front of us lit up, but not in the same way that it did when the spirit would appear. This time, the spring was glowing light blue, and the two of us saw tiny lights float out of the water. The lights came closer to us, and upon looking closer we saw that each of them had a pair of insect-like wings.

"Link, what are these things?" Starfire asked me.

The tiny lights flew around us the spring in a circular motion, and for some reason, their glow made the area feel even more peaceful. After some thought, I believe I figured out what they were.

"I… I think these are fairies!" I answered her.

We were both rather surprised. Starfire had heard that fairies were known well from fictional stories on Earth, but she had not thought them to be real, and neither did I. But apparently they were. I guess these fairies lived in the spring along with Lanayru. Two of them landed on each of our shoulders, and said hello to us in very tiny voices. Starfire giggled lightly and said hello back.

As we watched the fairies fly around the spring, I noticed that Starfire had her eyes closed and was just feeling the wind around us and enjoying the tranquility of this moment. She sighed peacefully and then told me something while still enjoying the moment.

"It is moments like these that make everything worthwhile." She said. "Link, have you ever wondered what it would be like if we did not have our powers? Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to just be a normal girl… well… normal by Earth standards I mean."

"Actually, I have wondered what my life would be like if I had not been given the spirit's blessing… if I was just a regular boy." I told her.

When she heard that she still looked happy, but at the same time there was a worried look on her face for some reason. The spirit's blessing was given to me by Lanayru; it was the source of my spirit powers; though I often wonder exactly why it had been given to me.

* * *

All of the sudden, all of the fairies quickly disappeared back into the spring, as if they were startled by something. We quickly looked around to see what could've caused this. Starfire gasped as she and I both saw why the fairies had fled. Emerging from the shadows of the trees was a man in black armor and a brown and black mask. However, half of the mask had been cracked off, showing one yellow eye and colorless hair underneath. We both knew who this was; it was Slade, the Teen Titans greatest foe, and also the man who murdered my parents.

"Quite a touching moment; but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut it short." He said coldly.

At that moment, Starfire got up and stood to defend me. Without my sword and shield, I did not have much of a chance in a battle against Slade.

"I will not allow you to take Link away again, Slade!" She warned him. "Place one finger on him and you will regret it!"

"How brave of you, but I'm not here to take him. I'm here to take you, princess." Slade responded.

What?! Why on Earth would Slade want to kidnap Starfire? I guess it hardly mattered; Slade was no match for her. At least that's what I had thought. When Starfire fired several of her starbolts at him, he quickly used his arms and knocked every one of them aside.

"I assume that you did not know that my wrist plates are able to reflect energy attacks." Slade taunted.

"Reflect THIS!" Starfire yelled before she quickly flew towards Slade to punch him.

Unfortunately this is exactly what Slade wanted to happen, because he pulled out an electrical device and zapped Starfire with it before her punch hit him. She screamed in pain from being electrocuted, and she fell to the ground, unable to move.

"There. That should prevent you from trying to escape for a while." Slade said to himself.

He picked up Starfire by the arm, gripping it tightly despite the fact that she couldn't move. I wasn't going to let him take her away though. I knew I didn't stand a chance against him hand-to-hand under normal circumstances, so I went in to spirit mode and began to advance on him. But before I got near him, he held up his hand.

"Come no further… or I will kill your friend." Slade threatened.

I immediately deactivated spirit mode, with a horrified look on my face.

"You… You're bluffing!" I shouted.

"I killed your parents without any regrets… I would have no problem killing this one." He said.

I did not want to take the chance of him killing Starfire, so I had no choice but to back off. However I did question him as to why he wanted to take Starfire. He told me that if I wanted to find out why for me to come to his lair; the same lair where Starfire had saved me from being evil. Slade then threw down a smokescreen and disappeared.

I did not know what he planned to do with Starfire, but whatever it was, I had to save her. I knew I couldn't do it alone though, so I called the others on my communicator and told them what had happened. After about half an hour they all arrived in their aerial transportation device, which they called the T-Ship. After I climbed aboard, we jetted off as fast as possible to Slade's lair. No matter what it took, I was going to save Starfire from whatever Slade was planning.


	4. 4: The Tri-Gate

Chapter Four: The Tri-Gate

We all stood at the entrance to Slade's lair, ready to charge inside to save Starfire from Slade. The building looked old and run down on the outside, but we had been here before and knew that it was a lot different on the inside. The fact that Slade had kidnapped Starfire was surprising enough, but what I wanted to know was… why?

I questioned the others about it, but none of them had any idea as to why this had happened either. Robin told me that of the many things Slade had done, this was a first. I had also questioned why Rose wasn't with us. The answer was a bit obvious; they had her stay back at the tower because they didn't think it the best idea for her to confront her father. She had been pretty bent on getting revenge on him before, so it was probably a good idea.

"By the way, Link... what exactly were you and Starfire _doing_ out there anyway?" Robin asked me.

I was a bit reluctant to answer at first, but I admitted that she and I were on a date. Robin wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that; in fact, a big scowl appeared across his face. I was a bit frightened of what he might do to me, so I swore to him that nothing happened between me and Starfire. Fortunately, Beast Boy stepped up and mentioned the prank from before involving the fake letter, and that Starfire and I pretended to go out to get back at him. Robin didn't seem to buy it entirely, but we dropped the subject and focused back on the situation at hand.

* * *

The five of us stormed into the building prepared for battle. However as soon as we entered the main room, we heard someone snap their fingers and a number of force-fields suddenly sprang up around each of us. I was pretty certain that I knew who set up the force-fields, and a second later my hunch was proven correct, for Ghirahim walked out of the shadows right in front of us.

"Greetings heroes. You're just in time to watch my master's plan unfold. It will be quite the spectacle!" He said.

He then approached me and leaned towards me.

"Especially for _you_, Link." Ghirahim told me in a very sinister tone.

Ghirahim then stepped back and gestured his hand towards a very intimidating looking machine. It consisted of a control panel attached to a very large ring with three unlit panels on the inside. Several feet behind the control panel was a large clear glass sphere with several large wires attached to it that led to the control panel, which then led to the ring. What I noticed most however, was who was in the sphere. It was Starfire, trying to break free from it; although I could tell that she was still weak from Slade's previous attack.

"Excellent work Ghirahim. Now that the Titans are subdued, my plan can begin." Slade said.

At that point I noticed that Starfire was trying to tell us something from behind the glass sphere. Unfortunately none of us could hear her from behind it, but I knew that she was trying to warn us about something.

"Let Starfire go!" I demanded.

"What are you planning?!" Robin yelled at Slade.

Slade stepped up towards the control panel of the machine before he answered Robin's question.

"Perhaps you are wondering what this device I'm standing on is." Slade questioned. "I like to call it the Tri-Gate; and when it works, my path to ultimate power will finally be opened."

We all looked rather puzzled in response to his comment.

"Ultimate power?" Cyborg questioned. "That's a new one for Slade."

Ghirahim once again stepped up to inform us of his master's intentions.

"Actually, this has been Slade's plan from the start. But due to certain… complications, this particular plan had been put on delay. Well… until _now_ that is." He told us.

Slade then pulled out three computer chips from his belt; a red one, a blue one, and a green one. They were the same chips that Ghirahim had stolen from the tower the other day! I was not the only one who had noticed this, as the others gasped when they saw this.

"You must also have wondered what these chips were for as well." He questioned again. "They contain coordinates of sorts. Coordinates meant to locate an area beyond time and space; discovered by my former friend, Daniel."

My father had been involved in this?! Wait… was this the project that my father had terminated to prevent Slade from getting his hands on the result?! A moment later my suspicion was confirmed, as Slade told us that the Tri-Gate had been designed by my father.

As Slade inserted each computer chip into the Tri-Gate's control panel, Raven asked why Slade would want to traverse dimensions, and why he needed Starfire to do it.

"I do not necessarily need your little alien friend to enact my plan, but merely a suitable power source. And the chamber she is in is specifically designed to drain the energy from what is within it." Slade answered.

"What?! You plan on using her as some kind of… battery?!" I asked, horrified.

"Relax, Link. The device will not kill her. Although she may be a lot less… energetic afterwards." Slade informed. "You should be grateful, Link. I had originally planned to use you to power it; Much safer than using the Xinothium ore that your father had originally obtained to power it."

I wasn't sure what he meant by 'Xinothium', but the others did. Apparently there was a tech company that held a huge supply of it; they had dealt with it before. Apparently my father was the one who ordered it from a… unknown source, but when he had cancelled the project the tech company decided to keep it locked up, and for good reason, as Xinothium is a highly unstable off-world element. Slade knew this too, which is why he sought a more controllable power source.

"Still… what possible reason could you have for wanting to cross dimensions?" Raven asked.

"Daniel had designed this machine in order to reach a particular dimension; a place that I've come to call… the Sacred Realm." Slade answered. "And within this Sacred Realm lies an artifact that I have wanted to get my hands on for nearly twenty years. The Triforce."

Nearly all of us did not really know what he was talking about, but Raven reacted to that name.

"The Triforce… I've heard that name somewhere before… I think it's supposed to…" Raven pondered.

A moment later, she looked shocked. She must have remembered what she knew about this 'Triforce'.

"Everyone! We have to stop Slade from activating that device, or we'll all be in trouble!" Raven warned us.

She started using her powers in an attempt to break the barrier that Ghirahim had cast on us.

"You heard her! We need to smash these forcefields and then smash that machine! Fast!" Cyborg told us.

We all began to try and break the forcefields around us with all that we could do. Ghirahim just stood there laughing at our failed attempts. Slade ordered Ghirahim to keep us from interfering. He then pressed several buttons on the control panel of the Tri-Gate before pulling one final switch. We all heard a mechanical buzzing before the glass sphere that Starfire was trapped in zapped her and began draining her energy. Though no sound was supposed to be able to go through the sphere, I was still able to hear her screaming in agony.

Once the device had drained all of the energy that was required, the wires connecting it to the ring began glowing green. The ring began spinning rapidly and sparkling with green shockwaves before it stopped and fired three lasers from the panels on the inside which coalesced in the center. The lasers then widened, opening a glowing triangular portal into another dimension, likely this 'Sacred Realm' that Slade had spoken of.

Once this had been done, Slade stood before the portal, taking a moment to relish his success, and then passed through. As I saw Starfire faint within the glass sphere, I couldn't bear the thought of being so helpless to do anything to stop this. With all of my strength, I went into spirit mode and thrust my sword into Ghirahim's barrier. At last, the barrier surrounding me had shattered, much to Ghirahim's surprise, and as fast as I could, I dashed into the portal after Slade.

* * *

On the other side of the portal, I saw before me a gigantic golden pyramid surrounded by a gold-colored sky. The pyramid had a staircase leading to the top; a staircase that I knew Slade had already climbed up. I climbed it as fast as I could and passed through the door at the top. I was now in a large bright room that had torches adorning the walls and various intricate patterns on the walls and floor. Slade was several feet in front of me with his back turned; and there, hovering in front of him were three golden triangles stacked upon one another. They looked exactly like one of the pictures I had seen in the book Raven had given me. This must've been the Triforce.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Slade asked me. "Within these simple triangles is power that rivals that of the gods themselves; power enough to grant any desire. And now… it is mine!"

Slade then reached out and touched the Triforce. I was had been too late, and expected the worst. The Triforce began glowing so bright that neither of us could see what was happening. However, to our surprise, when the light faded, the Triforce was gone.

"What?! What happened?! I should have the power of a god now! Why did it just vanish?!" Slade questioned angrily.

While he was distracted, I took the opportunity to run up to him and strike him with my sword. I struck him in the chest, but to my surprise I was blown backwards onto the ground. When I got up, my sword broke in half! Slade had not been damaged at all!

He was surprised by this too, and then noticed what was now glowing on his right hand; a symbol of the Triforce, with the top triangle glowing brighter than the rest. He laughed wickedly.

"Well, it would seem my efforts have yielded some results after all. One part of the Triforce is mine; now I simply need to find out where the other two went." Slade said. "A little more work than I had thought, but soon, I will finally have all the power that I desire."

Slade once again laughed evilly. My sword wasn't able to do anything. With power like this in his hands, I doubt that any of us could take him down! I ran out of the pyramid as fast as I could towards the portal. As I ran, I noticed that the sky was changing from gold to blood red. I passed through the portal back into our dimension, where I saw that the others had managed to escape from the force-fields, and had also freed Starfire from the glass sphere. We didn't have any time to waste though; the entire building was falling apart, either from the portal beginning to close, or from Slade's new power. Cyborg grabbed Starfire, who was still unconscious, and we all escaped the building as fast as possible. Before we all flew off in the T-Ship though, I looked back and saw that Slade had gotten out before the portal had closed, and was simply laughing maniacally.

Was there any way for us to defeat him now that he had so much power? We had to find some way to fight him, if at all possible. But for now, we returned to the tower in order to comprehend what had just happened; and of course, so Starfire could recover from all of this.


	5. 5: The Master Sword

Chapter Five: The Master Sword

Once back at the tower, we took Starfire to the infirmary to help her recover from having her power drained by Slade's Tri-Gate device. We informed Rose of everything that had happened; with her merely mentioning that all this is 'just like her dad to do.'

After about half an hour, Starfire began to wake up. I had been sitting beside her the whole time, and I called for the others to come greet her. However, when she opened her eyes, I could immediately tell that something was wrong. While ordinarily her eyes had no white to them, this time the only green in her eyes were her pupils. What did this mean?

Regardless, we all asked her if she was alright. She claimed that she was fine, but when she got out of her recovery bed, she fell down. I went to help her up, assuming that she was still weakened from having her energy drained.

"No, I am fine. It's just… when I tried to float like I normally do, I… I could not!" Starfire claimed.

She tried again to fly, but all she did was jump up several times, while falling right back down on her feet. Everyone was puzzled as to why she couldn't fly. I suggested that she try using her starbolts, not to attack but merely to see if she could. But when she tried, there was nothing.

"Looks like that machine of Slade's did more than just drain some energy from her; it took away her powers!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"No… It cannot be…" Starfire said while looking at her hands in disgrace. "Without my powers I'm… I'm…"

I knew what she was trying to say; she was going to say that without her powers, she is useless. I felt so bad for her, I had to say something.

"Hey, we don't know that her powers are gone! Maybe the machine just… prevented her from using them for a while… or something." I told everyone.

Unfortunately, I don't think anyone was buying it; though I did see that Starfire looked grateful that I was trying to cheer her up.

* * *

Robin decided that now that Starfire was awake, that we should get back to the situation at hand. The first thing he wanted to know was how Raven knew of the Triforce.

"I don't know much… I learned of the Triforce from my mentor, Azar, back when I lived in Azarath… but she passed away before I could learn anything else about it." Raven told us.

As it would turn out, Raven had come from a different dimension herself, from the palace of Azarath, and Azar, a wise woman revered as a goddess, had been her mentor.

"What I do know is that the Triforce is supposed to be able to grant any desire of the person who has it; and if Slade has it, then we're in trouble." Raven continued.

"Actually, I don't think he was able to get it… not all of it anyway." I mentioned. "When he touched it, it vanished and he only seemed to have one piece of it."

"I've heard of that… that if someone evil touches the Triforce, it will separate and they will only get one piece; the part of it that they believe in the most." Raven replied.

She went on to mention that the three pieces of the Triforce represented power, wisdom, and courage. Slade must've had the Triforce of Power. As for the other two pieces, she mentioned that they choose their own holders, but did not have any idea who they might be.

"Is there any way to stop Slade while he has the Triforce of Power?" I asked her. "I tried to attack him, and… well, look."

I pulled out my sword to show everyone what had happened. My sword was broken in half, and completely useless. They were all surprised that Slade had been able to break my sword without lifting a finger. Unfortunately, Raven didn't know of a way to stop someone with the Triforce, but she did mention that Azar had given her a book before she passed away; a book that may tell us a way.

She most likely meant the book that she had given me several months ago. I went to get it, but mentioned that I had not been able to understand any of it. We all took turns looking at it, but none of us were able to understand the language it was written in. Starfire asked if she could see it. I didn't expect her to be able to read it, but I let her see it anyway.

"Umm… this is the… 'History of Hyrule'." She said.

Beast Boy asked her where she got that name from. To our surprise, she said that that is what it read on the front page.

"Wait a minute… you can read it?!" Robin and I both asked.

"Yes. It is strange but the text in this book… it greatly resembles the native language of my home planet, Tamaran." Starfire told us.

"But… how is that possible?" I asked her.

She told us that she did not know, but also mentioned that it did not matter as now we had a way to find out how to defeat Slade. She skimmed through the book to see if there was any info that could help us, and after about fifteen minutes, she found something that might help.

"It says here that a weapon known as the Master Sword has proven effective against evildoers that have used the power of the Triforce in the past." Starfire read. "It says that it was last used in a battle against a dark lord known as Ganondorf in an area known as the Great Sea, but any further information about it has been lost to history."

"The Great Sea?" Robin pondered. "If I recall correctly, that's what the Mediterranean Sea was called in the ancient past."

"So I guess that's where we need to go." Cyborg said. "I'll get the T-Ship ready!"

* * *

After a few minutes of preparation, the T-Ship was ready to fly us to the Mediterranean. Rose offered to stay at the tower, just in case Slade tried to attack while we were gone. We were a little concerned though. Robin agreed to let her stay, but told her not to try going after Slade herself. It didn't seem like she intended to though.

"Don't worry. If Slade is really is as powerful as Link claims, then I'd be an idiot to go after him." Rose told him.

Raven also decided to stay at the tower to make certain Rose doesn't try to seek revenge on her father. Besides, there were only five seats in the T-Ship; someone had to stay behind, and she thought it would be best if she did.

A minute later, the rest of us boarded the T-Ship and blasted off to the east. Starfire was in the cockpit next to me, and I could see that she was still feeling depressed about losing her powers. This never would've happened if she and I hadn't been on that date at Lanayru's spring; all of this was my fault. Once we obtained this Master Sword, I'd make certain that Slade would pay for what he did.

The trip took a long time, nearly three days. It was fortunate that the T-Ship was on auto-pilot so that we could rest during the trip. Once we arrived at the Mediterranean Sea, Robin asked for suggestions as to how we could find where the Master Sword was. None of us had any ideas at the moment, and the Sea was gigantic; the sword could be anywhere.

Suddenly I noticed that the spirit gem around my neck was glowing brighter than normal. I had wondered why for a moment, but when I held it up and pointed it southward, it glowed even brighter.

"Hey, I think I have a way that we can find the sword." I told everyone. "I think my spirit gem can lead us to the right location."

Beast Boy questioned how at first, but Robin said that it didn't matter. We now had a chance to find the Master Sword, even if it was only a slim chance. As we kept flying south, my gem glowed brighter and brighter. Then after having flown in that direction for about fifteen minutes, the glow of my gem suddenly dimmed back to its normal glow. We did not understand it at first; the sword had to be somewhere around here. Starfire had a suggestion.

"I believe that the sword is here… but not 'here' here." She said. "I think that it is… down there."

She gestured to the surface of the water; she must've been suggesting that the Master Sword was down underneath the waves somewhere. I asked how we were going to get underwater, but Cyborg mentioned that the T-Ship was originally a T-Sub, and could travel underwater. With that being so, the T-Ship dove underwater and traveled down a very far distance. Eventually, we reached what looked like a large tower that had sunk beneath the sea long ago. On the top of the tower was a statue that was vaguely shaped like a man; and protruding from the top of the statue, was a silvery blade with a blue-colored hilt. This was it; it had to be the Master Sword!

"Okay, so we found it. But how the heck are we going to get it out of that statue while we're miles below the sea!" Beast Boy asked.

"One of us is going to have to go out there and pull it out." Robin answered.

Robin suggested that he would be willing to do it, but before he could do anything, Starfire urged him to stop.

"Robin… I do not think that sword will let just anyone remove it." She suggested. "I… I think the one who has to retrieve it is… Link."

Me? I had to be the one to remove it? Cyborg warned that the pressure out there would be really intense, and it would be very hard for me to move. However, Robin said that it's probably a good idea; besides, my old sword was broken, and I did need a new one. He told me that there was a small device that could let me breathe underwater while I attempted to retrieve the sword. I put it around my mouth and ejected from the cockpit.

Cyborg was right; the water pressure was intense, and trying to crush my entire body. I couldn't stay in the water for long; I had to get the Master Sword and get back to the T-Ship, fast! I swam over to the statue, trying my best to bear the pressure. Once I was right in front of the sword, I placed both of my hands onto the sword's handle. I was immediately able to feel a great power sleeping within the blade, and with all of the strength I could muster, I slowly tried pulling the sword out of the statue.

It did not budge the first few times, but after the third attempt, the sword slowly slid out of the statue's head, and a faint glow appeared around the sword for only a moment. When I had gotten the sword out completely, the statue it had been thrust into suddenly crumbled apart. It surprised me for a moment, but I now had the Master Sword. Unfortunately, the force I had exerted from trying to remove it, coupled with the water pressure around me, had left my whole body numb. Fortunately, Cyborg piloted the T-Ship close enough to simply scoop me into the cockpit. Once it was closed, the water drained out of the cockpit. Cyborg claimed that to be a new feature that he recently added to the ship.

Once the feeling had returned to my arms and legs, I took a closer look at the Master Sword. Its blade was a shiny silver color, and its blue hilt had two wing-like extensions folded up towards the blade, and also a black gemstone embedded into the hilt's center. Now that we had it, we began the long flight back to Jump City.

* * *

After a three day flight, we returned to the tower. Unfortunately, Slade had indeed attacked, for the whole inside of the tower was wrecked. Fortunately, both Rose and Raven were alright. They were injured and recovering in the infirmary, but they were alive. Still, we went to make sure that they were alright.

"We're alright… just bruised a bit." Rose claimed.

"What happened?" Robin asked.

"Slade and Ghirahim came and attacked us… they were after Link." Raven answered. "When we told them that you weren't here… and that you were coming back with a way to defeat him… Slade… somehow knew that it was the Master Sword that you were looking for."

"He also gave us a message for us to give you…" Rose told me. "He said that when you had the sword… to come find him… and that you… would be in for a surprise…"

In for a surprise? What was that supposed to mean? It did not matter right now; I told them both that we had found the Master Sword, and I held it up before them. Everyone claimed that it was an incredible looking sword; and hopefully what had been said about it in the book was right, and that it could defeat Slade and his newly obtained power.


	6. 6: Return of the Evil King

Chapter Six: Return of the Evil King

With the Master Sword now in my possession, we all set out to find Slade, in the hopes that my new sword would prove effective against him now that he possessed the Triforce of Power. However, none of us had any leads as to find him; at least at first anyway, because after searching for several hours, Ghirahim appeared before me.

"Well, hello there Link. I see that you've returned with your new little toy." He told me.

I drew the Master Sword, prepared to attack should Ghirahim try anything funny. But he said there was no need, and that he was merely here to inform us of his master's location.

"You can find my master in his old lair. It had been wrecked before, but thanks to his newfound power he has fixed it up with ease." Ghirahim informed me. "He's waiting for you to show up; he says he wants to test his new power on all of you. And I'm certainly looking forward to it."

Ghirahim vanished, no doubt back to Slade's lair. I informed the others of what I had been told; Robin knew exactly where Slade's original lair was, and once we all met back up, we set off to that location. It was another ordinary looking building, but none of us were fooled; it was no doubt a lot different on the inside.

"So my dad's in there…" Rose remarked. "Link, I sure hope that sword of yours works; because I really want to see my dad get what he deserves!"

Robin urged Rose to calm down, but honestly I couldn't blame her from wanting to see that; Slade had killed my family too, and now he was an even greater threat than before. I hoped that the legends about the Master Sword were true. Raven used her powers to bust open the door, and we all entered the building. The inside looked even more sinister than Slade's previous lair had been. There were ominous looking statues and sinister looking ornaments on the walls. Ignoring this we kept advancing towards the building's central room.

* * *

It was about the same size as his previous lair, expect this time it had gears turning and various machines in motion throughout the room, along with several more of the statues from before lining the walls. At the far side of the room, in front of a wall lined with monitors, stood Slade; however, he looked different from before. He was still in black armor similar to his regular outfit, but he now wore shoulder plates adorned with golden spikes. He also wore a dark red cape around his neck; though he still wore his mask, even if half of it was cracked off.

"Link… and friends… I've been expecting you." He told us. "For a moment I had thought you had run away."

I noticed that his voice was slightly different; it had a deeper pitch to it, which made him sound even more sinister. Rose immediately noticed Slade's yellow colored eye having been revealed from his cracked mask. She had claimed that his eyes had been blue before, and didn't know what had happened. Rose rather angrily asked her father what had happened to him.

"Foolish girl… Your 'father' died years ago! I'm not that pathetic man that I used to be." Slade answered her. "Now I am so much more… destined for so much more! I am the new Dark Lord of this world!"

Hearing that comment, Starfire reacted. She mentioned that she had read in Raven's book that Ganondorf, the villain that had been last defeated by the Master Sword, had been referred to as 'the Dark Lord'. Raven however claimed that it would be impossible for Slade to be the same man. Slade had overheard this, and told us something shocking.

"Actually, I found out something very interesting from the influence of the Triforce of Power. As it just so happens, I have harbored the spirit of the Dark Lord within me this whole time. It was that spirit that compelled me to obtain the Triforce, no matter what the cost. It was that spirit that had me kill Link's family, as well as my own; as they were in the way of my goals. It is that spirit, that has at last reawakened, that makes me a new man! Slade Wilson no longer exists! From now on, I am the Evil King reborn! I am… Ganondorf!" Slade, or rather Ganondorf informed, after which he laughed maniacally.

Every one of us were greatly surprised by this, but none of us more than me and Robin. This whole time we had known Slade was a madman, but to find out that he had been an evil king reborn this whole time just blew our minds. This knowledge now just made me want to take him down even more, and because of his past dealings with Slade I knew that Robin wanted that too. I held the Master Sword in my hand and rushed towards Slade, err… Ganondorf, and viciously slashed at him vertically.

To our surprise however, my attack had done nothing! Ganondorf just stood there with a malicious smirk across his face, and then quickly knocked me to the ground. Standing over me, he chortled evilly.

"I assume that blade you carry is the Master Sword. Sorry to disappoint you, but while that sword is indeed the blade of evil's bane, I'm afraid that it has long since lost its power. A sword that does not shine with the power to repel evil cannot defeat me; what you hold is NOTHING!" Ganondorf claimed.

He then attempted to attack me while I was down, but Raven erected a barrier between me and him. It only held him back for a few seconds, but it was enough time for me to roll out of the way and get back up. This was bad; if the Master Sword couldn't defeat him, what hope did we have?

"What do you want with Link anyway?! You've already opened that Tri-Gate; that you originally planned for him to power! Why are you still after him?!" Starfire demanded.

"As you are likely aware by now, I was only able to obtain part of the Triforce; the other two parts still elude me. However, I have found out where one of the two parts resides. In your friend… Link is the bearer of the Triforce of Courage! And I will pry it from him no matter what it takes!" Slade exclaimed.

I held the Triforce of Courage?! I couldn't believe it at first, but upon looking at my left hand, I believed it; for on my hand was the same Triforce symbol that I had seen on Slade's, err… Ganondorf's hand before, except this time the right triangle was glowing brighter than the other two. Robin suggested that since the Master Sword was not working, for me to get back to the tower now, and that they would hold Ganondorf off as long as they could until I could find another way to defeat him. Starfire insisted that she go with me to help, mentioning that without her powers, she is of little other use. I did not think that, but regardless, the two of us ran out of the building.

* * *

Ganondorf wasn't going to let us get away so easily though. With his newfound power, he brought to life several of the statues in the room to pursue us. They chased us all the way to the tower, and while the Master Sword was able to subdue most of them, they just kept coming relentlessly. I was at a loss of what to do, but Starfire suggested that we take the T-Ship; she knew how to fly it and mentioned that as long as Slade had this kind of power he would not rest until he had me in his grasp. So we both boarded the T-Ship, and even though the monster statues attempted to stop us, they failed as we blasted off.

I had at first thought that Starfire had meant for us to merely use the T-Ship to fly to a different area, but she had actually meant to fly it off of the planet itself! Apparently the T-Ship could not only fly underwater, it could also fly through space! The two of us had escaped the planet, but we still needed to find another way to defeat Slade, err… Ganondorf, or whatever he called himself now.

"We have escaped… but our friends are still in danger." Starfire said.

"I know. But right now we need to find someplace safe to think about what we're going to do about all of this." I told her.

"But… where will we go?" She asked me.

After a few minutes of thought, I came up with an idea.

"How about your homeworld?" I suggested.

"Tamaran?" She replied. "Well… it would be safer than Earth at the moment. All right."

Once we both agreed, Starfire and I set a course for Tamaran. Hopefully once there, we could figure out how to defeat Ganondorf, and rescue our friends from his wrath.

* * *

**Slade is the new Ganondorf. Ganonstroke the Dorfinator anyone? LOL. **

**The next few chapters will take place on the Planet Tamaran, where Link and Starfire learn some surprising secrets; About how to restore the Master Sword, and about themselves (it's all non-canon though). **


	7. 7: The Truth Revealed

Chapter Seven: The Truth Revealed

Starfire and I piloted the T-Ship through space for about an hour until we reached a planet that was about the same size as Earth. From space it looked white with purple line patterns across it. Starfire said that this was her home-planet Tamaran. It looked beautiful from here. Starfire was a little concerned by the fact that she had been unable to let any of her people know she was coming beforehand. I cheered her up by mentioning that some people like a surprise every now and then.

She piloted the T-Ship down into Tamaran's atmosphere. I was surprised by what I saw. I had expected a landscape full of color, but instead I saw nothing but rocky-colored desert stretching for miles. Though surprised, I still thought it looked nice. The T-ship flew to an immense white castle-like building and landed on an extended platform near the base of the building. When we exited the T-ship, Starfire told me that this was the Great Palace of Tamaran, where she used to live.

* * *

The main hall of the palace was incredible; it had various banners hanging from the walls; a balcony high up-top that I'm sure gave a magnificent view of the landscape; and large guard creatures chained to the walls in various hallways. The people around the palace all resembled Starfire in the fact that they had orange-tinted skin and green eyes with no white to them. Most of them were staring at me with peculiar looks on their faces. I wasn't sure whether it was because I came from off-world, or because of the strange unwelcome feeling people seem to get when they're around me; well, everyone except Starfire that is. She told me not to worry about everyone staring, merely saying that it was because they had never seen someone like me.

Starfire told me that we needed to find someone named Galfore; he was the emperor of the palace. After searching for a few minutes, we found him. He was a very imposing figure; nearly five times my size. He looked old, but incredibly strong. I was worried at first, but I calmed down after Starfire ran up to him and hugged him. She told me that Galfore was her 'K'norfka', meaning that he was her caretaker and raised her when she was a child.

"What a surprise to see you here princess. We were not aware that you were coming." Galfore said to her.

"Well… there were certain… complications that prevented me from telling you of our arrival in advance." She told him. "By the way, this here is my friend Link."

She then gestured to me. I kneeled and told Galfore that it was an honor to meet him. He told me that there was no need to bow before him, and that he was equally honored to meet me.

"I have met Starfire's friends before, but I do not recall meeting you m'boy." Galfore told me.

"Oh, umm… I've never been here before... I wasn't with the others the last time they visited. I had to do… other things." I replied.

Regardless, Galfore patted me on the back, which almost knocked me to the ground, and said that it was great to meet me. As it would turn out, Starfire had told him about me not too long after I had left on my journey three years ago. He also remarked about my green hat and tunic, and claimed that he had seen an outfit like mine somewhere before, but could not remember where. Somehow I doubted that it would've been the same outfit I was wearing, as our worlds were light years apart.

Suddenly, my stomach started growling; and both Starfire and Galfore heard this. My face turned red with embarrassment; I had forgotten that I hadn't eaten anything since I retrieved the Master Sword. Galfore let out a laugh, and offered us to join in a feast later. I was very grateful, and eager to see what kind of food they ate here. All I had ever seen of it was Starfire's cooking back at Titan's Tower; I enjoyed it, but was interested to see what else was available on Tamaran.

"We shall meet in the great hall after half an hour. I will be hoping that you and the princess will be there." Galfore exclaimed.

He then went off to prepare. I mentioned to Starfire that her people were very kind, though I questioned why Galfore called her 'princess.' Starfire sighed before telling me why.

"He calls me princess because… I _am_ a princess here." She told me. "I am… second-in-line for the throne. I, umm… forgot to mention that before. Sorry…"

"So… you're actual royalty?! You're really a princess?!" I asked her.

When I asked her that though, she turned her head down as if she was ashamed; did she think I was upset that she hadn't told me? I assured her that it was okay that she hadn't told me, and was about to place my hand on her shoulder. Before I did though, I felt that for some reason that I shouldn't. However, what I said had succeeded in cheering her up, and the two of us went to her old room to prepare for the feast. I'm sure that she had her reasons for not telling me that she was a princess.

* * *

About half an hour later, we met Galfore in the great hall. A table had been set up in the middle of the room, and nearly two dozen other Tamaranians were sitting around it. Starfire and I took the two seats on the side of the table closest to where Galfore sat. Soon afterwards, more than two dozen gigantic goblets were brought to the table, filled with some kind of juice. The goblets were very heavy; even when I went into spirit mode I was barely able to lift it. Unfortunately, because she had lost her powers, Starfire couldn't lift it at all. Galfore questioned why she could not lift it; and after thinking for a second, she told him that she just was not thirsty. Had she not told him that she lost her powers yet?

A moment later, the main course was brought in, which consisted of a plethora of rather bizarre looking dishes. Despite the strange looks I was very eager to dig in. However, something wasn't right; well… to me anyway. Everyone was staring at the food with voracious looks, which creeped me out at first. Then without warning, Galfore pulled out a huge axe and chopped everything into one pile; after which everyone just jumped onto the table and wildly started devouring what they could get. I turned to Starfire with a confused look on my face.

"Umm… I'm guessing that table manners here are… different than on Earth?" I asked her, unable to come up with a better response to all this.

"Correct. Now we must hurry or we will not get any." She answered me before jumping onto the table.

I was still confused, but I just decided to go with it and leapt onto the table myself and began gnawing at something that resembled sausage; although I knew that it wasn't. I was able to keep up with everyone, but unfortunately Starfire was knocked off of the table several times. Without her powers there was no way for her to keep up. I felt so bad, so I grabbed a large piece of what looked like a turkey leg (but knew it wasn't) to give to her. Another Tamaranian guy attempted to intimidate me away from it, but I growled at him viciously while my eyes glowed blue. This scared him off and I took the piece of meat over to Starfire.

"Here, I got this for you." I told her. "It wouldn't be fair if you didn't get anything while everyone else did."

I handed it to her and she thanked me before she began eating it.

"My pleasure… Princess Starfire." I said as I gave a small bow.

* * *

Soon after the feast, Starfire and I were walking through one of the halls back to her room. I told her that that had been the most fun I had ever had eating dinner, and that her planet was wonderful.

"Thank you Link, but… my planet is not that great." Starfire told me.

"What? Why would you say that about your own planet?!" I asked her.

"Look at it… it is… a wreck." She told me while gesturing to one of the windows to the landscape outside. "The land is ravaged, we are forced to compete for food, and the majority of my people are limited to living in this one area of the planet! Life here is… hard."

"Well... aside from those… inconveniences, I'd say you're lucky to have lived here, princess." I commented.

"Please do not call me a princess, Link. I… dislike being called that…" She told me.

Starfire didn't like being called a princess?! From what I've heard most girls would love to be called a princess. I asked her why she didn't like it, and I was rather surprised from her answer.

"Do you remember when I told you that I was second-in-line for the throne?" She asked me. "Well… I was actually next-in-line. For some reason, my parents refused to give that right to my older sister, who was supposed to be the next-in-line. But I did not want to rule Tamaran. I had… other ideas for my future…"

I asked her what she would have wanted to have done rather than to rule the planet. As I asked this, we just so happened to pass an interesting carving on the wall; depicting what appeared to be an epic battle against some horrendous monster.

"My dream back then was to become a Klorfk'r, and fight against invaders to defend the people of Tamaran from evil." She told me.

I asked her what a 'Klorfk'r' was. She told me that it is what would be known on Earth as a 'knight'. I thought that was great, and commented that that was a wonderful dream for her to have.

"It was Galfore who had inspired me, with stories of how he had been a Klorfk'r in his younger days. But no one thought that I could ever be brave enough to be one; not even my sister." She said.

"Well, I think you can. You're the bravest person I've ever met, Starfire. You're… incredible." I told her.

She blushed when she heard me tell her that, and I blushed too. I quickly changed the subject, and asked about the carving that was in front of us. She told me that it was supposed to depict Tamaran's origins.

The story was like this: Long ago, Tamaran was full of life. But one day, a vile monster appeared from nowhere and began to devour the planet's life force. The great diety that they called X'hal did not stand for this, so she and five other great warriors stood with her against the abomination. Together they succeeded in banishing the monster off-world, and rebuilt Tamaran as it is today.

She mentioned that the five warriors in the story are the ones that gave rise to all of the people on Tamaran today. The monster depicted in the carving looked terrifying; its head was shaped like a heart, but with a serpentine body, long horns coming off of it, and tentacles sprouting from behind it. Whatever it had been, I'm glad the warriors were able to drive it off. It was strange though; somehow, it felt like I had seen that monster somewhere before.

* * *

"Actually, there is much more to the story than that, young ones." An old voice said from behind us.

We were startled, and quickly turned around. Behind us was a short Tamaranian man with a long brown beard who looked incredibly old, and was holding a staff with a winged figure on the top. In fact, the figure looked almost exactly like the Spirit Key; a strange artifact that I had spent three years trying to find, thought still had no clue what it was for.

"My apologies for startling you. My name is Nova. I am a sage of this palace of Tamaran." He informed us.

"Oh. Umm… forgive me, but I do not recall ever seeing you in the palace." Starfire told him.

"I am not surprised, as I spend most of my days in the sacred chamber deep below the palace. But when I heard word that the spirit's chosen hero had come to Tamaran, I had to see for myself." He replied.

"Hold on… how do you know that I'm the spirit's chosen hero?" I asked him.

"And what did you mean when you said that there is more to the story?" Starfire also asked him.

"If you wish to know the truth, then follow me." Nova told us.

Nova slowly began walking in the opposite direction. Starfire and I both decided that we should follow him. It was not that hard to keep up, but because he was so slow it took awhile to reach wherever it was he was leading us to. The trip took us down into the dungeon below the palace, where the Tamaranians kept prisoners of war. Eventually, Nova stopped in front of what looked like an ordinary wall. I asked why we had stopped, but Nova did not answer. He just waved his staff in front of the wall. Suddenly, a symbol that looked like the spirit key appeared on the wall for a second; then the wall opened up revealing a staircase that led even further downward.

We continued to follow Nova down the staircase, and noticed that the walls were adorned with exotic green plants, which was bizarre; shouldn't there be less life down here? At the bottom of the staircase, Starfire and I couldn't believe what we saw. It was a freshwater spring surrounded by a plethora of strange plants. It resembled the spring near my hometown back on Earth; except for the fact that it was underground.

"I am glad that you made it here young ones." A familiar voice greeted us.

It was Galfore. What was he doing here?! Starfire asked him that very question.

"This is Tamaran's Sacred Spring, one of the palace's greatest secrets." He told us.

"The spring's great spirit wishes to speak with the two of you." Nova informed us. "Please… stand before the water's edge."

We did as he said, and once we did, the water, rocks, and the very vegetation around the spring began to glow. The spring's great spirit? He didn't mean… did Tamaran have its own light spirit?

A large shining sphere rose out of the water. It was a light spirit, but what Starfire and I saw next greatly surprised us. From the spring rose a gigantic glowing serpent that coiled itself around the sphere. Both Starfire and I knew who this was; it was Lanayru!

"Greetings heroes; we meet once again." He said to us.

"Lanayru?! But… but how?!" I questioned.

"How is it that a light spirit of Earth is here on Tamaran?!" Starfire asked.

"We light spirits are not confined by the boundaries of space. We serve as guardians of many worlds. Our springs merely serve as portals from the spirit world to your world." Lanayru told us.

Nova mentioned to us that Lanayru and the other light spirits have watched over Tamaran ever since 'the great tragedy' that started it all. Neither I nor Starfire knew what he was talking about, but we were about to find out from Lanayru.

"The great tragedy is a series of events that resulted in many outcomes; such as the birth of Tamaran, and, unfortunately, the destruction of the land of Hyrule." Lanayru said.

Upon hearing this, Starfire and I were eager to hear more. We both sat down on the ground in front of the spring as Lanayru told us the story.

"Long ago on Earth, there existed a kingdom known as Hyrule, home to the hylian people. It was a prosperous and peaceful kingdom. But one day, a horrendous monster of pure evil cast its shadow upon the land. Born from the deepest darkness, it sought only to bring chaos and destruction to all who layed eyes upon it." Lanayru stated. "Zelda, the ruler of the kingdom would not stand for this monster to do as it pleased, and with the help of five warriors, banded the people of the kingdom together to stand against the abomination."

"With the help of a sacred blade crafted by we light spirits, they were able to stop the monster's rage of destruction. However, the foul beast had one last attack for them; with its great power, it tore open a rift in space, attempting to send the entire world into oblivion. With the power of the sword, the world was saved, but both the sword and the hylian people were lost." Lanayru continued.

Starfire questioned what had become of them. Lanayru went on to answer her question.

"However, the people had been spared. Through the sword's power, instead of being cast into oblivion, they were transported to a new world; and with the swords power, gave that world new life. The world was named after the sword's holder. It was dubbed… Tamaran." Lanayru finished.

Both of us almost could not believe what we had just heard, especially Starfire. She… was descended from people from Earth?!

"But… but… Link is hylian too, correct? How is it that he can be, when they all supposedly vanished from the Earth?!" Starfire asked Lanayru.

"There was one survivor among the hylian people; Link's ancestor. And over the millennia that followed, he eventually gave rise to the one that stands with you now." Lanayru answered.

So all of this happened one thousand years ago? It was still hard to believe, but if it came from Lanayru then it must be true. Galfore walked over to Starfire, who still looked very distraught from what she had heard.

"Princess, please forgive me for keeping this secret from you. But it was for your own good, and the good of the people; for if they knew the true story of our origin, it would no doubt cause great panic." Galfore told her.

Starfire was silent, still likely trying to contemplate everything she had heard. Lanayru spoke once again.

"Unfortunately, there is no time to rest. The evil forces are gaining strength, and you must act." He said.

"That's right! Our friends are still trying to fight off Ganondorf back on Earth. But… the Master Sword lost its power… and it's useless now." I mentioned.

"There is a way to restore power to the Master Sword…" Lanayru told us.

That comment caught Starfire's attention, and she immediately came back to her senses and asked how we could do this.

"You must find the sacred blade that was forged by we light spirits; the Spirit's Sword. It contains our power, and can most certainly restore not only the Master Sword's power, but your power as well, princess." Lanayru answered.

Galfore approached Starfire and questioned what the spirit had said about her.

"Princess, you never told me that you had lost your powers!" He said.

Starfire was reluctant to answer at first, but soon admitted that she simply did not want Galfore to worry too much about it. He understood, and then asked Lanayru where we could find the Spirit's Sword.

"The Spirit's Sword is located within a shrine north of here, within the Forest of Light; Tamaran's last remaining forest. The area is protected by an endless sandstorm that surrounds it, and the shrine can only be opened with sacred power. The spirit key that Link carries should be able to open it. The journey will be treacherous, but as the spirits chosen heroes I know that the two of you can overcome it." Lanayru told us.

He then vanished back into the spring. Did Lanayru just say that there were two chosen heroes? Did he mean me and… Starfire?! I couldn't think of anyone else he could've meant, so I assumed it to be true. Starfire, Galfore, and I exited the chamber of the spring and headed back up to the palace so that Starfire and I could prepare for our journey to find the Spirit's Sword. So much had been revealed to us in just the past hour; that Starfire and her people actually originated from Earth; that we were both descended from hylian people; and I now finally knew what the spirit key was for! But most importantly, we now knew how to restore power to the Master Sword. It was now only a matter of time before we would defeat Ganondorf and rescue our friends.


	8. 8:The Journey Across Tamaran Begins

Chapter Eight: The Journey Across Tamaran Begins

Starfire and I were preparing to leave on a journey across the planet Tamaran in order to find a sacred blade that could supposedly restore power to the Master Sword, and also return her powers that she had lost when Slade's device, the Tri-Gate, drained her of her energy. However, we had decided that we would begin this journey tomorrow. She still needed some time to comprehend everything that we had heard from Lanayru; and I couldn't blame her. It was a lot for me to comprehend too.

We had learned from Lanayru the true origin of Tamaran and its people; that they were once from Earth and were unjustly banished here by some evil creature. What's more is that the people that they were descended from were the Hylian people… which was what I was. So in some ways… Tamaran was as much home to me as it was to Starfire.

Starfire was within her room trying to rest. I on the other hand decided to take a walk around the palace. I still thought Tamaran was a wonderful place. In some ways it was like my hometown, Lanayru Village, but better. I stopped at one of the upper story balconies and gazed out onto the landscape. It may have been desert from everywhere I could see, but I still felt that it held its own serene beauty. The view of the night sky was also breathtaking; the stars were clearly visible and scattered all across the sky. I noticed one star shining blue; I wondered if that one was Earth, and also wondered how the rest of our friends were doing against Ganondorf. It's strange, but I could've sworn that from here, the star I was looking at would've been in the same position as one particular star I liked to gaze at while on Earth.

While I was looking up, I began to think about Starfire, as I always do when I look at the stars. It was because of me that her life has become so hard lately. First of all, I lost my mind and turned evil a few months ago simply because I was jealous of her being Robin's girlfriend, and as such caused her to break up with him. Then there was what happened only a few days ago, when Starfire was kidnapped by Slade and forced to power the Tri-Gate, which took away her powers; and she never would've been kidnapped if she and I had not been on that date together. I began to wonder whether she still even liked me. The truth is… I love her… but I am almost certain that she'll never love me back.

* * *

I kept thinking about this and looked down at the spirit gem around my neck; the gemstone that had formed on the day I met Starfire. It held spiritual energy from both of us within it. I still don't know what it was for, but at least having it around my neck made me feel safe. I was so distracted by my own thoughts that I had not noticed Galfore approach me from behind.

"Ah, Link. What a surprise to see you out here." He said.

I had been startled by his appearance, but quickly regained my senses and greeted the Grand Ruler of Tamaran with a bow. However, just as before, he told me that it was not necessary to bow before him.

"I noticed that you were marveling at the scenery out there." Galfore stated. "So what do you think of Tamaran, chosen hero?"

"Oh… it's wonderful. I… think Starfire is fortunate to have… lived here." I told him.

Galfore was apparently able to notice the weakness in my voice just now.

"Does something trouble you?" He asked me.

"What?! No. I'm fine..." I claimed.

He could tell that I was not being honest about that. He asked if what I troubled about concerned Starfire in any way. He had hit the nail on the head with that, so I decided to tell him a bit about why I was so depressed right now.

I told him the parts about how I had turned evil before, and also about how I was powerless to stop Slade from kidnapping Starfire. However, Galfore was able to tell that there was more to it than that.

"Link, do you, by any chance, have feelings for the princess?" he asked me.

"What?! Well… we're just really good friends… that's all." I told him.

"No. I've seen the way you look at her. Not with the kind of expression that simply says 'just friends'." He replied.

I guess it was just too obvious. I admitted that I had feelings for Starfire; and yeah, not the 'just friends' feeling, but the fact that I REALLY liked her. But I also mentioned that even thought I felt that way, it did not matter, because she did not like me the same way.

"Hmm… you think that because of that other boy she likes. I believe his name is Robin, correct?" Galfore asked.

"Right. The reason I turned evil before was because I saw a… moment between them, and became really jealous. Starfire saved me from it, but… I'm still haunted by what I did…" I answered. "She was forced to break up with Robin because of me. I may be good again, but… sometimes I still feel like a monster."

"It would not be the first time that unbridled emotions have changed people. It has happened numerous times here on Tamaran. I know… from experience." He responded.

I questioned what he had meant by that. The answer was that he had gone through a very similar situation in his youth. He told me that he had not always been the Grand Ruler of Tamaran; in fact, that title was given to him by Starfire herself! In his youth, Galfore had been a Klorfk'r, a knight of Tamaran (as Starfire had told me before), and fought to defend the palace, the planet, and even more so, its princess.

"I was not too much unlike you in my younger days. I was a warrior that fought off all manner of invaders, off-world or otherwise. I was known for my bravery and gallantry by most. However, what I cared for most was the princess that I fought for. She and I had met when we were young, and I had thought we would be together forever." Galfore began. "However, there came a time when I had to leave to fight a battle far away from here, and by the time I had returned she had fallen in love with another."

"You can probably imagine that I felt great jealousy, and eventually challenged the young man to a duel; for the hand of the princess. It was a difficult fight, and in the end I had my opponent pinned down. But then I saw the look the princess had on her face; a look of disappointment and sadness. I realized that even if I had won the battle, I would've still broken her heart, so in the end, I forfeited." He continued. "The princess eventually married the man and ruled Tamaran together. She had not forgotten me though, and insisted that I still stay by her side to defend her, and also to help look after her family."

That story was rather sad, and was in many ways comparable to what I had been through.

"Wait. The princess in that story… she wouldn't happen to be…?" I began to ask.

Galfore's answer was exactly what I had thought. The princess from his story was Starfire's mother. So he really did know what I was going through. I decided that I wanted to go see Starfire right now. Before I headed off though, Galfore had one last thing to tell me.

"Just remember, Link. Even if it seems hopeless… do not lose hope. Don't make the same mistakes that I almost made." He told me.

* * *

A few minutes later, I was standing outside of the door to Starfire's room. I knocked on the door before I entered. When she asked who it was I told her that it was me and if I could come in. She opened the door and told me that she would be glad to have me with her right now. Once inside, I noticed that she was holding what looked like a harp in her hands.

"Starfire, what are you holding?" I asked her as I pointed to the harp in her hands.

"Oh, this old thing? It is an instrument that my mother used to play for me before I slept. I'm not certain, but I think she called it… the goddess's harp… or something similar." She answered.

She then took her hand and strummed a few of the strings on the harp. A beautiful sound came from it. It sounded as nice as my ocarina; perhaps even better. Afterwards, she put it down and walked over to the balcony just outside her room, stared off into the distance, and sighed.

"I hope that our friends managed to survive Ganondorf's attack. I do hope they are alright." She said.

"I hope so too. I couldn't imagine life without them."I replied.

"How long do you suppose it will take to find the Spirit's Sword?" Starfire asked me.

"I'm not certain, but probably a few days or so." I answered.

Starfire sighed again, and mentioned that it would take a lot less time if she was able to fly right now; and I agreed with her. I looked at her while she was still gazing at the landscape before her, but quickly looked away when she turned her head towards me. However it turns out that she wanted to tell me something.

"Link?" She began. "You know, out of all of the people I could have here right now to help me through this… I am glad that it is you."

"Really?" I asked. "But… but that couldn't be true… I know that you'd much rather have Robin here than me."

That was my assumption, but she shook her head in disagreement.

"No Link, it is the truth. I wouldn't wish for someone else to be here with me right now. I am glad that it is you… especially after the 'date' we experienced." She told me.

"The date we were on? But that was when Slade kidnapped you." I responded.

She went on to say that she had meant the parts of the date before that happened; the parts that involved visiting Lanayru's Spring, and our game of tag, and sitting together in front of the spring and watching the fairies fly around us. She told me that she just takes out the part when Slade ruined it. Because other than that, she says it was one of the best days of her life. That comment made me smile, and a tear fell from my eye, but I don't think she saw it.

* * *

The next morning, the two of us were ready for our journey. Starfire had brought a bag with her that she could carry over her shoulder. She also decided to bring her harp along, if only to 'brighten the mood' as she put it. As for me, I just took along what I normally carry; a travelers pouch on my belt, a bottle for storing water and other things, my Lanayru's Shield, and of course, the Master Sword; as well as my other weapons. Galfore and the sage Nova saw us off, and Starfire and I began heading to the North.

The two of us walked for hours, and all we could see was barren wasteland stretching for miles. I had noticed that Starfire was having trouble keeping up. I asked her if she was alright. She claimed that she was fine, just not accustomed to traveling areas like this on foot. Still, the sun was going down, and after walking for this long, I insisted that we stop to rest for the night.

I went to try and search for something to make a fire with, but there were no sticks or branches to be found. Fortunately, Starfire had anticipated this, and from her bag pulled out several pieces of wood that she had brought from the palace, and placed them on the ground in front of us. The two of us worked together to start a fire, and then we sat down in front of it.

"There aren't a lot of plants around here." I mentioned. "Has Tamaran always been like this?"

"No. In the past, Tamaran was home to a beautiful forest that stretched almost all across the planet." Starfire told me with her head down slightly. "But about eight years ago, a Gordanian fleet invaded our world, declaring war. It took years to resolve the conflict, and in the end Tamaran had been damaged beyond repair; the trees had been burned down, and the soil was tainted by the fires of the war."

I remembered what the Gordanians were; they were those horrific lizard-men who had originally kidnapped Starfire. The ones she was talking about were probably different, but they still sounded horrible.

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. "I'm so sorry for you… and everyone else here."

"Since the loss of Tamaran's forest, we have had to use what little resources are available in the palace. It is the only place left on Tamaran where any plant life can grow. Or at least, that is what I had thought, until Lanayru told us of this 'forest of light' that is supposed to be on this world. I would be overjoyed to know that such a place still exists here!" She told me.

"You must have really liked the forest when you were little." I assumed.

"I did. It was my favorite place to be, before…" Starfire began to say, but stopped, as tears started to form in her eyes.

She must have been remembering all of the horrible experiences she must have went through when Tamaran was being ravaged by war. I placed my hand over hers in an attempt to comfort her. I told her to cheer up, and promised her that we would find the forest of light; not only to obtain the Spirit's Sword, but also to make her happy. She smiled upon hearing this, and then after a few minutes, both of us fell asleep. I knew that this journey would be difficult, but I knew that as long as we stayed together, we could get through it.


	9. 9: A Fright from the Past

**For anyone who has seen the Teen Titans episode "Car Trouble", you may remember the part when Starfire told Cyborg that when she was little, her favorite 'zarnik' was eaten by a rampaging 'glourge'. That is where I got the idea for this part, for in this chapter, Link and Starfire are attacked by the very same Glourge that Starfire encountered all those years ago. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Nine: A Fright from the Past

It had been about four days since Starfire and I left the Palace of Tamaran on our journey to find the Spirit's Sword, which Lanayru said could restore the Master Sword's power; and Starfire's powers too, which she had lost when she was forced to power Slade's Tri-Gate. This day we had been walking for nearly six hours. Fortunately, on the horizon, the two of us could see what looked like a town.

"I thought the Palace of Tamaran was where everyone lived?" I asked Starfire.

"A majority of Tamaran's populace lives in the palace, but there are also a small number of communities that exist away from the palace. It is here where the less fortunate Tamaranians dwell." She answered.

Well, as long as there was a place for us to rest I guess it didn't matter that much. Also, maybe we could get some info about where we were.

* * *

Once in town, I saw exactly what Starfire meant when she said this was where the 'less fortunate' Tamaranians live. Practically every building was extremely run down, and many houses looked abandoned. One building however, was inhabited, by a lot of people. We went in to find out it was in fact a pub of some kind. The people inside seemed different from those at the palace; whereas the people at the palace seemed relatively friendly, the people here looked rough and… unwashed.

I questioned Starfire about this place, but she told me that she had never really been this far from the palace before, so neither of us knew what to expect. We cautiously approached the front counter towards the bartender. I didn't know if he'd be able to understand me or not, but since Starfire was with me I don't think it was that much of an issue.

"Welcome to Tamaran Tavern, how can I help you two?" he said… in english!

I was a bit surprised at first, but quickly got over it and asked if there was any water here. Turns out water was served here, although he mentioned that he had other drinks for sale. I insisted however, that Starfire and I only wanted some water. While he went to get our drinks, Starfire and I sat down on two stools in front of the counter.

"Hey, Starfire? How does that guy know English?" I asked her. "Come to think of it, how did Galfore and Nova know English?"

"Oh, well… my people have the ability to learn any language instantaneously through, umm… lip… contact." She answered somewhat nervously.

"Lip contact? Do you mean… by kissing?" I asked. "Hold on… is that why you kissed me when we first met?"

She nodded. I had always wondered why she had done that all those years ago. At first I thought it may have been her way of saying thank you, but now I knew it was merely so she could learn English; in other words, it had meant… nothing.

"It must have taken a lot of… umm… kissing… to get everyone at the palace to learn it." I claimed a bit awkwardly.

"Umm… actually… the ability does not work between members of our own species… only others." She said.

"What?! But then… how do your people know English?! An Earth language?!" I asked her.

"Actually, the language you call English happens to be known by many species in the galaxy. It is a language that is taught in the educational system at the palace. Perhaps a Tamaranian learned it long ago, and then shared the knowledge with those less fortunate." She answered.

As we continued discussing the subject, the bartender came back with our drinks.

"There you are, a cup for you. And a cup for your girlfriend there." He said as he handed the cups to us.

"Uhh... She's… not my girlfriend!" I insisted.

"No? Bummer." He replied.

Before he left I asked him about where we were, and if he knew anything about the forest of light. As I asked that the entire place quieted. The bartender told everyone that there was nothing to hear and to go back to their business. He then lowered his voice.

"You mean the forest that is supposedly beyond that endless sandstorm, right?" he asked us.

"Yes! We need to know where it is." I said.

"Well, it happens to be about four klimthorgs from here, but I wouldn't bother trying to find it." He replied.

I questioned Starfire about what he meant by 'klimthorgs'. She told me that it meant 'miles' in English. Once I had that figured out, I asked him why we shouldn't bother finding it.

"Cause no one who has gone there has ever returned. You two would probably get buried alive if you tried going through that death-zone. If you value your lives, you'll head back from where ya came." He told us.

"We cannot turn back now! Our friends are in danger, and we need what is in that forest to save them!" Starfire exclaimed.

* * *

Right after she had said that, a random Tamaranian man came flying through the door in panic. He flew all over the room trying to get his message out.

"Glourge! There's a Glourge on the loose!" He shouted. "It's in town and heading this way!"

At the sound of that, everyone began to panic. I lost Starfire for a moment within all of the ruckus, but the two of us quickly found each other again and escaped the panicked crowd through the back door. Starfire told me that there was no time to rest, and that we had to get out of town right now. I questioned why, and her answer was this; we could not let the Glourge find us.

"What's a Glourge?" I asked her.

"A Glourge is a predatory beast native to Tamaran. They are known to attack and eat almost anything that moves." Starfire answered.

"Couldn't someone just get rid of it? With Starbolts or something?" I asked her.

"No. A Glourge's hide is highly resistant, even to starbolts. It is because of such predators that Tamaranians evolved flight. " She explained. "Besides, starbolts can only be used by Tamaranians of royal blood, and with my powers gone our only option is to run."

Only Tamaranians of royal blood could shoot starbolts? That was unusual. Regardless, the two of us began running north as fast as we could. All of the sudden however, Starfire grabbed me and pulled me behind one of the buildings, out of sight. I tried to ask why she did this, but she put her hand over my mouth before I could. However I soon found out why.

Both of us could hear it; a loud, low pitched growling noise coming from several yards away. I turned my eyes to look out from the edge of the building, and what I saw was horrific. Prowling slowly across the street was a gigantic, four-legged, dark yellow-colored monster. It resembled one of the beasts that were guarding the palace before, but its body was less bulky, its legs were longer, and it was much bigger! It looked like it was nearly 30 feet tall, and had two red stripes across its sides ending at its dark red eyes, which were somewhat insect-like. While the monster was sniffing the air, no doubt trying to find some poor victim to devour, it turned its head and noticed that strangely, its left eye was white; as if it had stopped functioning.

We tried to stay as quiet as possible, but unfortunately, Starfire's hand over my face was making my nose itchy, and I sneezed. This caught the Glourge's attention almost instantly, and it started trudging in our direction. There was no other choice; Starfire and I ran out from our hiding place and fled north. The Glourge saw us however, and after letting out a deafening roar it started chasing after us. It was surprisingly fast for such a large creature, and even though we were able to stay ahead of it, it would only be a matter of time before we were tired out from running. We managed to find a relatively sturdy looking building and ran into it. I shut the door as fast as I could, but knew that the Glourge would get through soon. The beast was ramming at the building walls very violently, even for a predatory animal.

"This is strange. Glourges are voracious, but I've never known of one to pursue their victims this intently." Starfire said.

"Maybe it's just really hungry." I suggested.

"Perhaps… but… Link did you notice the Glourges left eye? It was without color, was it not?" She asked me.

"Yeah, it was like it was burnt out or something." I replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because… well, I cannot be certain, but… I think I may have encountered this particular Glourge before." She told me.

"What?! When?" I asked.

"When I was at the age of six, an adolescent Glourge broke into the palace somehow. In the confusion, I ended up lost in the palace, with no one with me, except for my favorite zarnik. Oh, umm… a zarnik is what would be referred to on Earth as a doll." She began explaining. "Anyway, by a stroke of bad luck, the Glourge found me and pursued me through the palace. While I tried to escape, I ended up dropping my zarnik, and the Glourge ate it."

"It chased me all the way to the outside of the palace, where it cornered me; and I was too frightened to fly away. I thought I was done for, but all of the sudden, a gigantic glowing serpent-like creature appeared out of nowhere and attacked the Glourge with some kind of light beam. The attack took out the beast's eye and it fell off of the palace platform and down to the ground. It was a long fall, and I had assumed it had died then; but I guess I was wrong." She finished.

"Wait… by gigantic serpent-like creature, do you mean Lanayru?" I asked her.

"I am now quite certain that it was, although back then I had no idea what it was." She replied.

* * *

Before our conversation could continue, the Glourge burst through the wall, roaring as it tried to attack us. As fast as we could, we escaped the building and continued running north, with the Glourge continuing to pursue us. Eventually we came across an area surrounded by rocky cliffs; perhaps we could lose the Glourge here. Unfortunately, it did not work, and we merely ended up in an enclosed circular area. The Glourge stood several feet across from us, growling viciously.

"Looks like we don't have a choice; we have to fight it!" I said.

"But… I cannot fight it… without my powers…" Starfire said.

"Then… I'll face it by myself." I told her.

I drew the Master Sword and braced my shield. The Glourge and I stared each other down; the Glourge was still growling and had hideous saliva dripping from its mouth.

"Link, no! A Glourge is too dangerous to face, especially a full grown one!" Starfire told me.

"But if we do nothing we'll be eaten for sure!" I replied. "Don't worry, I've faced tougher things than this. I can handle it. Trust me."

Starfire nodded, and stepped back a few feet. I turned to face the Glourge again. It let out another roar, and then charged straight at me. It was fast, but I managed to roll out of the way at the last second, and the Glourge accidentally rammed its head into the cliff wall as its attack missed. This gave me an idea; if I tricked it into hitting the wall enough times, maybe it would tire out and go unconscious, and then Starfire and I could escape.

I set myself between the Glourge and the wall behind me and waited for the beast to charge. I was able to dodge, but the Glourge ended up hitting me with one of its claws. The blow knocked me down, but the Glourge still rammed its head into the wall. I could tell that it was getting dizzy, but it was still conscious enough to fight.

I tried the same tactic again, but this time instead of ramming its head into the wall it stopped, turned around and continued pursuing me. It was right behind me and getting closer. I had to react quickly, or else both of us would get eaten! Then I remembered my spirit mode powers; maybe that could help. I didn't know exactly how it could help though; if only it could help me run faster.

Just as I thought that though, I felt a surge of energy and my boots glowed blue slightly. At that point I was able to run at least four times faster than I was before. I had no idea that spirit mode could work on my shoes! The Glourge was surprised by my sudden burst of speed, and picked up its pace to try and keep up. It was likely distracted from trying to catch me, because I then made a sharp turn and it slammed its head into the wall; harder than before due to its increased speed. I'm certain that I was able to hear its skull crack before it fell to the ground with a loud thud.

Starfire walked over to me to make sure I was okay. It seemed as if the battle was over, but neither of us could be sure if the Glourge was actually dead or not.

"C'mon Starfire, we need to get out of here before…" I began to say.

I was cut off however, when Starfire gave a horrified gasp. I turned around and saw why. The Glourge was alive, and had recovered faster than I had thought. I reached for my sword, but I wasn't fast enough; the Glourge lunged forward and closed its jaws around me, swallowing me whole. I was still able to hear Starfire scream in terror, even as I was sent down the Glourges throat. I was soon in its stomach, which smelled horrible. I wasn't going to let it eat Starfire too, so I took my sword and thrust it into the beast's stomach wall.

Starfire was able to see as I sliced the Master Sword through the monster's flesh, and green blood spurted from the now open wound as I jumped out of the Glourge's stomach. After an attack of this intensity the Glourge once again fell to the ground, and this time it was certainly dead. Starfire ran up to help me, being very concerned about what I had just been through. I was covered in Glourge blood and slime from its stomach.

* * *

"Ugh! This is worse than Plasmus!" I proclaimed. Plasmus was a villain we have faced before back on Earth who is made of some sort of slimy substance.

Starfire asked if I was alright. I told her that I would probably need a shower later, but other than that I was fine. She helped me get most of the slime off of me; I still stank a bit, but I was cleaner than when I had come out of the Glourge.

"Link, how did you do that?! When you ran so fast?!" Starfire asked me.

"Well, I guess I'm able to use my spirit mode powers on my boots, and increase my speed." I answered. "...if I had known I could do that sooner… my journey around the world would have gone a lot quicker…"

Starfire noticed that I looked depressed as I said that, and told me that it does not matter how long it took in the past, because I'm here now. That comment made me feel better, and right afterwards I noticed an unusual wind coming from over the cliff.

"Hey, do you feel a weird breeze blowing here?" I asked her. "It feels kind of… sandy."

Starfire stopped for a moment to feel the air, and then claimed that she did feel a strange breeze from over the cliff behind us. We climbed up to the top of it and what we saw was breathtaking. Just beyond the cliff was an enormous wall of sand blowing in a cyclone-like manner. It seemed to stretch for miles, and rose so high it looked as if it touched the very tip of the planet's atmosphere.

This had to be the endless sandstorm that Lanayru told us about; and beyond it was supposed to be the forest of light. Both of us were a bit intimidated by the storm.

"It… It is enormous! I never knew such a place existed on Tamaran! How could we possibly get through that on foot?!" Starfire asked.

"We can't give up now! We're so close! Once we get the Spirit's Sword, we can rescue our friends and defeat Ganondorf!" I told her. "I'll be with you the whole way, and I won't let anything bad happen. I promise."

When she heard that, she smiled and regained her confidence.

"Let's go." She said.

The two of us then headed towards the sandstorm. Starfire pulled out a couple of cloaks that she had decided to pack, to help us try to withstand the storm. We each took a deep breath and then plunged right into it. The wind was blowing extremely hard, and the sand particles within the wind felt like full sized stones as they hit us. As unbearable as it was, we had to keep going; and as long as we were together, I felt like we could get through anything.


	10. 10: The Forest of Light

Chapter Ten: The Forest of Light

Starfire and I had been trudging through the sandstorm for at least five hours, and the intensity of the storm was beginning to take its toll on us. I noticed Starfire was having a hard time trying to keep up. With her powers gone, this was no doubt very hard for her. I offered to let her lean on me as we continued onward. She at first insisted that it was not necessary and that she could still walk fine, but just after saying that, she stumbled to the ground. I helped her back up and placed her arm around my neck to help her stand, and I insisted that I help her. She thanked me, and we kept going.

About half an hour later, the two of us spotted a large hill poking out of the sand, and there was a small cave embedded within it.

"I think we should go in there and rest for a little." I suggested.

"No… we must keep going… the sooner we find the forest… the sooner we can…" she tried to say as she was coughing.

I am certain that she was trying to say that the sooner we reach the forest of light, the sooner we can rescue our friends from Ganondorf's clutches. While I knew that she meant well, I told her that if we didn't rest now, we would surely perish in the storm. Besides, I knew she was exhausted from traveling this far, and needed to rest. I helped her inside the cave and took my arm off of her. She bent towards the ground and coughed furiously.

"Terrain such as this… is far more difficult to travel across… when you cannot fly." She said weakly.

* * *

After a few minutes, we sat against the cave wall in front of a small lantern that Starfire had in her bag. It was rather cold inside the cave. I was able to handle it, but I wasn't certain that Starfire could, as I noticed she was shivering slightly.

"Hey Starfire, are you feeling alright?" I asked her.

"Truthfully, no. I am still terribly worried for our friends. And… I feel so useless right now." She answered. "Everyone here was right… my childhood dream was foolish."

"What?! Don't say that! Your dream of being a klorfk'r… a knight… it isn't foolish. I think you'd be a great knight! And you are definitely not useless; to anyone… to me. You're my best friend… and nothing is ever going to change that." I told her.

I was about to place my hand on her arm, but I felt like I shouldn't. But she did look at me and smile.

"Thank you, Link. You certainly know how to cheer me up." She said.

"Our friends will be fine, I know it. I don't think Ganondorf would kill them. If anything, he'd probably be using them as a reason for us to return to the Earth." I told her.

Starfire was feeling better, but she was still shivering from the cold. Ordinarily, conditions like this wouldn't bother her that much; maybe her losing her powers had something to do with it.

"It is still very cold…" She said while shivering. "I had thought deserts were supposed to have high temperatures."

"Well, I guess there are some exceptions." I said.

I took off my cloak and handed it to her. She was worried that now I would be too cold, but I told her that it didn't bother me that much. She took my cloak and wrapped it around herself, but she was still shivering, even with the extra cloak.

"Thank you, but… I-I-I'm still c-c-cold…" She said.

"Really? Hmm… well aside from the lantern I can't think of anything else here that's warm." I replied as I looked around the cave.

"I can…" she said.

"You can? What is it?" I asked.

Just then, Starfire scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder with her arms wrapped around me. This action of hers had surprised me, and I blushed furiously.

"You." She said, with a loving smile.

It felt a little awkward at first, but after only a few seconds, I calmed down, although I was still blushing. I looked at her face resting upon my shoulder, and smiled.

"Thank you, Link. I… I do not feel cold anymore." She told me.

"Yeah… me neither." I replied.

* * *

We spent about two hours resting within the cave before we were rested enough to continue our trek through the sandstorm. It was still hard to walk through, but it wasn't as difficult as before now that we had more energy.

"Link, have you noticed that the storm of sand is become less… intense." Starfire asked me.

I had actually noticed that. It felt like the wind was slowing down, and there wasn't as much sand in it as before. I squinted my eyes as I looked ahead, and I could've sworn that I saw something greenish in the distance. My hunch was correct, because after a few minutes, we had reached an area where the wind was no longer blowing, and before us were thousands of gigantic green trees, and various exotic plant life that I had never seen before. The sight of it was unbelievable!

"Link, we have made it!" Starfire exclaimed as she tightly wrapped her arms around me in embrace.

"Now all we have to do is find the shrine that is supposed to house the Spirit's Sword. Our journey is almost over!" I told her.

She quickly ceased her embrace and the two of us walked into the forest. While underneath the trees, we were able to see and hear a variety of otherworldly flora and fauna. It was beautiful, and Starfire thought so too. She used to love being within the forests back when they covered Tamaran; this must have been very nostalgic for her.

"Link, where do you suppose we will find this shrine?" She asked me.

"I'm not sure. But if we continue to search the forest, I'm sure we'll come across it." I answered.

We eventually came to a clearing that had several large stones jutting out of the ground. It seemed like a good place to take a break in order to think about how we're going to find the shrine. Besides, the bottle of water I had brought was empty and needed to be refilled, and it was not like we were going to find the shrine right away. I heard the sound of water running a little to the west from where we were. I told Starfire to wait in the clearing while I went to get us some more water. She told me to be careful, but I assured her that I'd be fine. Besides, I was more worried for her.

It did not take long for me to find where I had heard the water coming from. It was a small stream going through the woods; perhaps connected to a spring, because I doubt that it flowed out into the desert. I crouched down at the edge and scooped more water into my bottle and corked it. It wasn't a lot of water, but it would likely do. After all, our journey was almost over… I hoped. I couldn't help but think that everything that had happened was my fault. If I hadn't been in that prank war against Beast Boy, he never would've put that fake letter for me to find, and then Starfire and I wouldn't have gone out and Slade wouldn't have captured her and used her to get the Triforce. I swore to myself that once this was all over, somehow, I would make it up to her.

Just then I noticed on the other side of the stream there was a patch of white flowers growing. A ray of sunlight was beaming down on them, and they seemed to sparkle in the light, almost like diamonds. The sight was incredibly beautiful; almost as beautiful as Starfire.

"Maybe I should pick one of these flowers for her. She would like that…" I said to myself.

I stepped across the stream and took a look at the flowers. They were all gorgeous, but I wanted to find one that stood out from the rest. After a few minutes of looking, I saw a red one. It looked like the only red one in the entire patch. The red color matched Starfire's hair, so I knew that she would love it. I picked the flower and made my way back to the clearing where Starfire was waiting. However, when I was about halfway back, I heard something strange.

It sounded like someone singing along with a harp. The only one that I knew that had a harp was Starfire; the harp that she had shown me before we left the palace. When I got to the clearing, I saw Starfire sitting on one of the large stones and playing the harp that she had brought. She _was_ the one singing! It was a very beautiful sound, and as I saw her singing, my face couldn't help but turn light red; she just looked like…. a goddess.

I went into the clearing and approached her to tell her that I had found more water. She was startled by my sudden return, claiming that she did not expect me to return so quickly. I questioned her about the song that she was singing just now, and she told me that it is a song that her mother had taught her long ago.

"Whenever I went into the forest when I was little, I would often sing this song when no one was around. It always made me feel… happy." She said.

"It's a beautiful song. I bet everyone back home at the tower loves it." I claimed.

"Well… umm… no, actually. I have never sang it to anyone before. You are the first person to hear me sing it." She told me.

I was shocked by that comment. I claimed that that couldn't be true, that she must've sung it before someone; probably Robin. However, she repeated that no one had ever heard her sing it; not even Robin, her ex-boyfriend. I asked her why she wouldn't want anyone to hear such a beautiful melody.

"Well… it's not that I wouldn't want anyone to hear it. It is just… I had lost a reason to sing this song… when the place I loved to sing it in was destroyed." She told me.

"Oh. That makes sense." I said. "I guess if I had lost a place that was special to me, I wouldn't want to sing either… or play my ocarina or something."

"True. But now that I am here, in this forest, the last that exists on Tamaran, I do have a reason to sing… and I have you to thank for it, Link." She told me with a heart-warming smile.

I blushed from that comment and told her I was grateful that she thought that. I then pulled out the flower that I had picked for her a few minutes ago, and held it out to her.

"By the way Starfire, I umm… found this in the forest." I told her a bit awkwardly. "I… umm… thought that you might like it."

She took the flower from my hand and looked upon it. The flower was still sparkling and looked as fresh as when I picked it. I was blushing furiously, and I'm fairly certain that she noticed this.

"Link… this is a lightflower! The rarest kind of plant that ever existed on Tamaran! And the red variety is even more difficult to find!" She exclaimed. "You found it in _this_ forest?!"

I nodded. She then looked at me with a loving smile. I assume that this meant that she liked the flower.

"I assume that you did not know that on Tamaran, when a boy presents a girl with a lightflower, it means that he has… _the feelings_ for her?" She mentioned.

"Uhh… I didn't know that! I just thought it looked pretty and that you'd like it!" I claimed while blushing even brighter than before.

Starfire giggled and told me that she knew that I didn't know that, and also mentioned that she already knew that I liked her. Well, of course she knew, because of the incident when I turned evil. However she went on to say that she liked me to.

"Really?" I asked her. "I would've thought that after that incident… and the current one, that you didn't…"

"Link, neither of those incidents were your fault. You were simply… dragged into them." She answered.

"But if we had not been on that date, you never would've been kidnapped. And worse, I could've done something to stop it, but… I didn't." I said.

"Slade got the best of both of us Link. Do not blame yourself." She told me.

* * *

Our discussion of whether or not this was my fault went on for a few minutes until, from out of nowhere, a tiny voice cried out.

"HEY! WHATEVER HAPPENED, IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT! GOT IT!" it said.

Both Starfire and I were very surprised by the sudden intrusion. Afterwards though, we noticed that what had interrupted our conversation was a small green-winged fairy.

"Oops. I didn't mean to startle you two. Sorry…" she said to us.

Starfire told the fairy that everything was fine, but I was a bit confused; how could a fairy be on Tamaran?! I questioned Starfire about this, and she said that she was not that surprised.

"We _did _meet Lanayru here on Tamaran, and we both thought that he was confined to Earth. So I am not surprised to see another magical being normally found on Earth here." She told me.

I guess that made a little sense. All of this was so confusing, so I just decided to go with it. Starfire introduced us to the fairy.

"Greetings tiny winged one! I am Starfire, and this is my friend Link." She told her.

"Nice to meet both of you! My name is Lily." She told us. "It's not very often that I see people here in this forest. So what's your story? Are you like, a couple or something?"

"NO!" Starfire and I both responded.

Both of us were blushing after that. Lily told us that that was a shame and that she thinks that Starfire and I would make a cute couple. If only that could be so….

"So what are you doing here? I didn't think anyone would be able to get through that sandstorm." Lily asked us.

"We're trying to find a shrine somewhere in this forest. It's supposed to contain a sacred sword, and Starfire and I need to get it to help our friends back home." I answered.

"Do you mean the Shrine of the Guardian? I just came from that area!" Lily mentioned.

This fairy knew where to find the shrine?! I guess it was fortunate that she had interrupted our conversation after all! Starfire politely asked Lily if she could lead the two of us there. Lily happily agreed and told us to follow her as she flew east.

* * *

As we followed Lily through the woods, we entered an area of the forest where the trees were growing closer together. It was difficult to move through, but Starfire and I managed. After traveling a bit further, we reached another clearing, but instead of a bunch of stones, the clearing had a house-sized building in the center. It looked very old, with vines entangling most of it; save for the front, which consisted of a giant stone door that had several markings on it; four of which I recognized as the symbols of the light spirits.

"This has to be it! The shrine that houses the Spirit's Sword!" I said.

"Now all we have to do is open the door and retrieve the sword!" Starfire replied.

Just then, Lily flew in front of us and asked us how we planned to open it. The door did not appear to have any visible lock system, and yet it did not seem like it would open no matter what kind of force was applied.

"Link, Lanayru said that your spirit key had the power to open the shrine." Starfire told me. "Perhaps you should try it now."

"Oh, right." I replied. "I hope it works. I don't want the three years I spent gathering the key shards to have been for nothing."

I looked a little depressed as I said that, and Starfire could tell. She assured me that it would work and told me to try. So I took out the spirit key, approached the door, and held up the key before the door. For a moment, it glowed brightly, and we thought it worked. But after a moment, the glow faded, and nothing else happened.

"What?! I don't get it. Why didn't it work?" I asked.

I began to wonder if the spirit had been wrong; or if he had just sent me around the world for nothing. However, Starfire noticed that there was writing above the door. She took a close look and read what it said.

"This door shall remain forever closed, unless shown song and spirit as one." She read.

Song and spirit as one? What was that supposed to mean? I had no idea, but apparently Starfire had one. She claimed that the song mentioned in the text was the song she played on her harp; the same beautiful melody I had heard her singing earlier. Of course, spirit was referring to my spirit key. Starfire suggested that I hold the spirit key up to the door again, but this time she would also play the song on her harp.

I approached the door and held up the spirit key again. Starfire pulled out her harp and began strumming it; singing along with the melody. The key reacted to the song and glowed even brighter than before. The light from the key shot out into the center of the door, and all of the markings lit up. Once Starfire's song ended, the building rumbled as the door slowly slid open. We wasted no time and went inside. The interior of the building consisted of a small hallway leading to a circular room with more intricate markings on the walls; and there, thrust into the ground a few feet in front of us, was a magnificent looking sword with a golden hilt. This had to be the Spirit's Sword!

The two of us gazed upon it for a moment. The hilt resembled a bird's wings with different colors on its three feather-tips. The blade itself was silver and had four gemstones embedded into it. But what I noticed on the hilt the most was the large gemstone within the center; it greatly resembled my spirit gem!

"It… It's…" Starfire began to say.

"Glorious?" I finished for her.

She nodded, and then suggested that I go pull it out of the ground. However, I mentioned to her that I did not think that I was the one who is meant to remove it. Starfire questioned that if I wasn't meant to remove it, who was?

"Starfire… I think you are the one meant to do it." I told her.

"Me?!" She asked. "But… but I have never held a sword in my life. How could I be worthy of such a weapon?"

"Lanayru said that the sword could restore your powers." I mentioned to her. "Besides… why wouldn't you be worthy? At least try to pull it out. I believe you can do it."

She smiled and nodded, agreeing to at least try. She then walked over to where the sword was plunged into the ground. Once in front of it, she seemed to hesitate for a bit, probably still not sure if she could do it. After a few seconds though, she took a deep breath and grasped the handle. To our surprise, the sword began to glow, as did Starfire's hand. The glow enveloped her entire body and the light turned green. There was no doubt about it; her powers were back!

Not only that, but her confidence seemed to return as well. She gripped the handle with both hands, pulled the sword out of the ground, and raised it to the sky. A magnificent ray of light shot out from the blade and passed through the roof of the shrine as if it were transparent. The light soared into the sky and formed into a gigantic symbol shaped like the spirit key. The sandstorm around the forest finally subsided; most likely after what had been nearly a millennium. The symbol faded, and I approached Starfire as she lowered the sword.

"See? I told you that you could do it!" I exclaimed.

She did not respond to this with words, but by unexpectedly hugging me. She was obviously very happy that her powers were back and that we now had a way to restore the Master Sword. I always enjoyed being hugged by her; as she was the only person who _ever_ hugged me.

Now that we had the Spirit's Sword, we began the journey back to the palace, though now that Starfire had her powers back, the journey took a lot less time. She simply flew there while I held onto her hand. I helped her carry the Spirit's Sword, as I did not think she'd be able to fly properly while holding both the sword and me. Once we were at the palace, we would find out exactly how the Spirit's Sword could restore the Master Sword's power; and once its power was back, we could rescue our friends; and I would make certain that Ganondorf would pay for what he's done!


	11. 11: The Master Sword's Rebirth

Chapter Eleven: The Master Sword's Rebirth

Once we were back at the Palace of Tamaran, Starfire suggested that she and I go find Galfore. We may have obtained the Spirit's Sword, but we still had no idea how it would be able to restore power to the Master Sword. She claimed that Galfore may know something about it, so after agreeing with her, we went to find him. It did not take us long, however, as we found him within the great hall.

"Galfore, we have returned! And we have found the Spirit's Sword!" Starfire told him.

She then held up the sword for him to see. It's golden hilt and sleek, silver blade was truly a sight to behold.

"I never thought that I'd gaze upon it with my own eyes… the same great sword whose power breathed life back into this world long ago." Galfore stated as he looked upon the sword.

"We still don't know how it's going to restore the Master Sword's power, and we need that to defeat Ganondorf." I told him.

Fortunately for us, Nova appeared in the room all of a sudden. He claimed that Lanayru had known that we would be here right now with the Spirit's Sword, and he also claimed that he knew the way to restore the Master Sword's power.

"The spirit said this: Cross the sacred swords together, and the Master Sword shall once again shine in the darkness." Nova told us.

It seemed simple enough, but I wondered if it would actually work. Starfire and I were willing to try it though, so I took the Master Sword out of its scabbard and held it in front of me. Starfire also held the Spirit's Sword in front of her, and we carefully crossed the blades together. For the first few seconds, nothing happened, but soon we both noticed that the spirit gem within the Spirit's Sword's hilt began glowing very brightly. The glow extended into the blade, and then extended onto the Master Sword's blade. The glow continued for a few seconds and then faded.

We uncrossed the swords, and I inspected the Master Sword, which looked no different than before.

"I can't tell… did it work?" I asked.

No one responded, but a moment later I got my answer. The black gemstone in the hilt of the sword turned bright yellow, and the blade once again began to glow. The sword seemed to become heavier as it continued glowing, and now the hilt was changing. The two wing-like extensions on the hilt folded outward like a bird stretching its wings. The sword shined even brighter as I held it up towards the sky.

"It has worked. After over a millennium, the Master Sword has once again regained its lost power to repel evil." Nova stated.

The light faded, but the blade still had a faint glow around it. I could feel the great power within it having now been awakened.

"Now that the Master Sword's power is restored, I know we can defeat Ganondorf, and rescue everyone!" I said.

"Then we should return to Earth as soon as we can!" Starfire replied.

Galfore took a step forward however, stating that we should not be so hasty to head into battle right now, as we were still worn out from our journey.

"I suggest that the two of you rest for now." He told us. "You can return to the Earth in the morning."

Starfire was reluctant at first, saying that if we waited any longer it may be too late. However, I thought it was a good idea; if we went to face Ganondorf now, we would be in no condition to fight him. Besides, he needed all three Triforce pieces to make his wish, and he could not do so as long as I had the Triforce of Courage; and he likely needed the others alive to lure us back there. Starfire agreed, and the two of us went to get some rest. I was provided with a place to stay, while Starfire stayed in her old room.

* * *

Later that night, I awoke to a peculiar sound. It sounded like someone swinging something, and it was coming from outside. I quietly crept out of my room and made my way down to the great hall. No one was there, but I still heard the noise coming from outside. I made my way outside to the entrance platform, and discovered where the noise was coming from. It was Starfire, and she had the Spirit's Sword with her. Apparently that sound had come from her swinging the sword around. I startled her with my appearance a moment later.

"Oh, Link, it's you. I did not expect you to be up this early." She said.

"I didn't think you'd be out here at this hour either." I replied. "What are you doing?"

"Does it not appear obvious as to what I am doing? I am practicing with using the Spirit's Sword." She told me.

"But Starfire, you're already super strong and can shoot starbolts. Why would you need to use a sword?" I asked her.

"Well, as you know quite well, I had lost my powers earlier. So I thought having this sword with me would be a good idea, just in case I lost my powers again." She answered. "Besides, it would not hurt to have an extra means of protection, and I… um… always thought that you looked… 'cool' when you use your sword."

That last part made me blush slightly. Was she actually trying to be more like… me?

"Well, okay. But you do know that using a sword isn't just about swinging it around, right? It requires focus." I told her.

I mentioned this because I had noticed that she had merely been swinging the sword in random directions and did not seem like she knew what she was doing.

"Perhaps you could teach me how to use a sword?" She suggested.

"Me? Teach you?" I asked, being rather surprised. "I've… never really taught anyone anything before, but… I guess I could try."

She smiled in response to my answer. I then pulled out the Master Sword so I could demonstrate to her how a sword should be used. One of the first things I taught her was something that my old swordmaster, Nobleman, had told me many times.

"Remember that a sword doesn't hold any strength unless its holder has courage in their heart. When in battle, don't think of the sword as a weapon, think of it as an extension of yourself." I told her.

I showed her a series of sword techniques that I had used many times, and told her to try and copy what I did. She tried several times, but messed up on each attempt. She was hesitating, so I went over to calm her down.

"Instead of swinging it with one hand, try swinging it with both hands for right now. At least until you get used to it." I suggested.

I had placed my hand on hers when I said that, and she blushed. I did too, but I quickly backed away afterwards. When she attempted the sword techniques again, she did better.

"That was good! It wasn't perfect, but I know you'll get better!" I told her.

"You really think so?" She asked me.

I nodded in response, and she giggled happily. It was at that moment that I noticed what was in her hair. It was the flower that I gave her the other day. When I pointed it out, she told me that she had made it into a hair ornament.

"This way I'll have the lightflower wherever I go." She said. "Does it look nice?"

"Umm… yeah, it looks really nice." I said while blushing slightly.

* * *

Later, in the morning, Starfire and I were ready to return to the Earth. At the landing platform, Galfore and Nova saw us off and wished us good luck. Galfore had fashioned a scabbard for Starfire to hold the Spirit's Sword in. She took it and hugged him good-bye. We boarded the T-Ship and took off into the atmosphere. After about an hour of space travel, we at last reached the Earth and Jump City. However, things looked drastically different.

Many of the buildings were black and wrecked, and the entire sky was covered with storm clouds. What we noticed the most however was that Titans Tower was gone! In its place was a tall foreboding tower that exuded an evil aura. It was likely that this new tower was where Ganondorf was dwelling, so we piloted the T-Ship to land on the edge of the island where our tower used to be. As we exited the T-Ship, we could both feel a horrifying chill in the air.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked Starfire.

"I am fine. I just did not think that the city would look like this! It is horrible!" She answered.

I tried to assure her that everything would turn out okay; though to be honest, I wasn't entirely certain if everything really would turn out okay. We may have had the Master Sword and the Spirit's Sword, but we had no idea if they would really allow us to match Ganondorf's power. I wasn't going to give up though, and neither was Starfire, for at that moment she drew the Spirit's Sword and pointed it towards Ganondorf's Tower. I really admired her confidence; it was just one of the many things that I loved about her. Strangely, for just a moment, I could swear that I saw a glint of golden light appear on her right hand, but I just thought I was seeing things.

"Are you ready, Link?" She asked me.

To answer her question, I drew the Master Sword and pointed it towards the tower just as she did. I did not feel that same kind of confidence that she had, but as long as she was by my side I felt like I could take on any foe! The two of us made our way to the tower entrance, and the gigantic doors opened as soon as we were in front of them; almost as if Ganondorf wanted us to enter. The inside of the tower looked even more frightening than the outside, but that wasn't going to stop us. Without any delay, we rushed into the darkness of the tower, prepared to rescue our friends, and to make Ganondorf pay for what he has done!


	12. 12: The Chosen Heroes vs The Dark Lord

Chapter Twelve: The Chosen Heroes vs The Dark Lord

Starfire and I ascended Ganondorf's Tower, fighting off any monsters that were attempting to stop us from reaching Ganondorf. Eventually, we made our way to a spiraling staircase. It was so dark that Starfire had to use one of her starbolts just so we could see where we were going. Higher up the hall got brighter, and at the top was another large door. I could feel it; Ganondorf was on the other side. We were about to rush through the door when all of the sudden, Ghirahim appeared out of nowhere; right in front of us.

"Well, look who it is." He stated calmly. "I had thought for a moment that the two of you had given up and run away. But I guess I was wrong…. How fortunate…"

"Out of our way!" I yelled.

"Tsk tsk, such rude behavior." Ghirahim snickered while waving his finger. "Are you quite certain that the darkness has left you, Link?"

What he said just now made me worry, but Starfire stepped up to defend me.

"Link is no longer one of Slade's puppets! And you will not stop us from thwarting his evil plans!" She yelled.

"Now who ever said I was trying to stop you?" Ghirahim asked smugly.

He wasn't trying to stop us from facing Ganondorf?! Then why was he here?

"I merely wished to see you off… because this fight will be your last! Heh heh heh!" He taunted.

Ghirahim then stepped aside to let us pass. I didn't know whether he was up to something or not; after all, he did work for Ganondorf. Still, if he wasn't going to stand in our way, then fine. He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

* * *

The two of us burst through the door and ended up in a large room that was reminiscent of our tower's ops room, except this room had no tables or monitors. It was almost empty, except for a throne on the other side of the room; and sitting upon that throne was Ganondorf; once known as Slade; and the monster who murdered my parents.

"Welcome heroes. I've been expecting you." He said.

Ganondorf rose up off of his throne and fixed his gaze upon us while laughing softly.

"I was beginning to think the opponents I had prepared were too much for you two to handle." He stated.

He then walked over to the large window behind his throne and stared out into the wrecked city.

"What do you think of my city? Quite the sight to behold isn't it?" He said evilly. "Very soon, the entire world will look just like this!"

"That is not going to happen!" I shouted as I braced the Master Sword, preparing for the worst.

"Where are our friends?!" Starfire demanded. "What have you done with them?!"

Ganondorf simply laughed again and then turned to face us. He was still wearing the broken mask he wore when he was Slade, even though at this point it was largely unnecessary.

"Oh, my apologies… Do you mean _these_ friends?" He asked rhetorically.

He snapped his fingers, and all of the sudden, the top part of the room which was originally obscured by darkness lit up. What we saw made both of us gasp in fear. Suspended from the walls of the room were all of our friends; Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Rose; who looked severely injured and unconscious. They had actually fared this badly against Ganondorf?!

"Admittedly, they fought valiantly. But as with any who dare to oppose me, they fell before my power. The once great defenders of Jump City, reduced to mere trophies adorning the walls of my tower!" Ganondorf said vilely, followed by yet another evil laugh.

"This is _not_ your tower!" I told him.

"It might as well be… soon the entire world will be mine." He said.

He walked towards the window and stared out at the city once again.

"It is inevitable. Once I have the complete Triforce, there is nothing in this world that cannot be mine! If only you had accepted my offer Link, and stayed my apprentice… you could've shared in that power… and had anything you desired." He said with his head turned towards me. "You still could. What do you say?"

His offer of power may have convinced some other people, but it wasn't going to convince me. After all the horrible things I did while I was possessed and serving as his apprentice, there was no way I would want to go through that again.

"What I say is… NEVER! I'll never betray my friends ever again!" I proclaimed.

I could tell that Ganondorf was getting angry. The symbol of the Triforce of Power began to glow on his right hand. He turned to face us again, with his face full of rage.

"You insolent fool! I offered you a way out of this, but if this is your decision, you now have only two options…" He claimed as he held up his fist, displaying the Triforce of Power. "Hand over the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom! Or you will die by my hand and I'll rip them from your lifeless bodies!"

There was no way we were going to let him win. We braced ourselves for battle, but before the fight started, Starfire inquired something.

"Wait a minute." She began. "We do not have the Triforce of Wisdom, only the Triforce of Courage, held by Link."

"That my dear is where you are mistaken." Ganondorf implied. "All three Triforce parts are in this room right now! I hold one, and the other two… are standing right in front of me!"

I knew that I held the Triforce of Courage, but I know I did not have the Triforce of Wisdom too. Unless… was he referring to Starfire? How could that be?

"Don't believe me? Then why don't you check your hand, little girl!" He told Starfire.

She looked upon her right hand, and after only a second or two, a Triforce symbol began glowing on her hand too! This one had the left triangle brighter than the others. That must've been why I saw a glint of light on her hand before; Starfire held the Triforce of Wisdom!

"But… how is this possible?! I am not even from this world!" She asked.

"But remember the story that Lanayru told us. Your people are descended from the Hylian people of Earth. That must be why the Triforce chose you!" I answered her.

"It is indeed curious…" Ganondorf interrupted. "The previous holder of the Triforce of Wisdom was the crown princess of Hyrule. As strange as it may sound, perhaps you have some sort of connection to her."

That actually could be possible. The Tamaranian people were once the Hylian people, after they were unjustly banished from the Earth by some evil force. In that case, it is possible that Starfire could be descended from Princess Zelda herself!

"Regardless, the time for talk has past! Now the fight for the Triforce begins!" Ganondorf ordered.

He raised his hand, which was glowing with a dark purple aura, and all of the sudden, a barrier of the same color shot up out of nowhere, separating me and Starfire. Unfortunately, I was on the same side of the barrier as Ganondorf, but at least Starfire was safe… for now.

"I'll deal with her a little later. You Link, are first on the chopping block!" He told me threateningly.

I turned around and saw him standing right in front of me, his body pulsing with dark aura. He held his hand out, and a sword appeared in his hand, most likely created out of that evil power. He was an imposing figure, obviously more powerful than Slade had ever been, and what's worse; I had never bested Slade in battle. But that didn't mean I wouldn't try this time!

"You scared kid?" He asked mockingly.

To be honest, I was terrified, but that wasn't going stop me. Everyone was counting on me right now; our friends… our city… the world. Even if I was afraid, I wasn't going to back down. I braced my shield and the Master Sword for what I knew would be an extremely difficult fight.

"Bring it on!" I yelled out at him.

Ganondorf made the first move. He slashed at me vertically with his sword. I managed to block it with my shield, but the power behind the attack was so great that it sent me back into the barrier several feet away. Starfire was still on the other side, watching and hoping that I was okay. I got back up and went into spirit mode. I knew it was risky, but against a foe like this I needed every advantage I could.

When I went into spirit mode this time, it felt different. I could feel great power surge from the Master Sword, showing this with a flaming blue aura surrounding the blade. Not only did I feel stronger, but also more focused. This must've been the Master Sword's true power!

"Quite impressive. But I'm afraid a little light show won't keep me from my destiny!" Ganondorf claimed.

He came at me again with a horizontal slash. I was prepared this time, and countered his attack with a vertical slash of my own. Ganondorf kept swiping at me, and I kept blocking his attacks. This went on for a while, until Ganondorf jumped back, holding his sword with both hands. I readied myself for whatever he was going to do. At that moment, he came charging at me with his sword drenched in dark aura. Using the Master Sword, I intercepted his attack, and our blades locked together. This was now a contest of strength; and whoever was able to push their opponent back would gain the upper hand.

"You've improved kid…" Ganondorf said. "But you're still not good enough. It doesn't matter how powerful that sword is… you are still weak! And that isn't going to change anytime soon."

I kept struggling to keep him back, gripping my sword as hard as I could. But he was still too strong, I couldn't keep this up for much longer. This became apparent, when all of the sudden, my spirit mode powers faded. I had gone over the time limit, and it couldn't be at a worse time. The Master sword went flying out of my hands to the far right side of the room, and Ganondorf's sword hit me with so much power, that it left burn marks on my tunic. I was sent back into the barrier again, completely exhausted from my spirit mode's side effect. I was barely able to get up, and even then Ganondorf rushed towards me and pinned me up against the barrier gripping my throat.

"Like old times… eh, kid?" Ganondorf said mockingly.

It was just like my first encounter with Slade all those years ago; the very encounter that sent me on my journey, and which was inevitably how I met my friends. Back then I could not defeat him, nor could I when I was with the Titans; and if I couldn't defeat him here, all hope would be lost. Maybe he was right… I was weak.

All of the sudden, a shot of green light struck Ganondorf in the side, which released his grip on me and knocked him to the ground. I knew that green light from anywhere; it was Starfire!

"Link! Are you alright?!" She hastily asked me as she helped me up.

"I'm fine, but… how did you get through the barrier?" I asked her.

"I used the Spirit's Sword. It was able to pierce through Ganondorf's barrier." She answered.

"Well, I guess it isn't called a sacred sword for nothing!" I said.

Our talk had to be cut short though, because Ganondorf had gotten back on his feet, and other than a scorch mark from being hit by a starbolt, he looked unscathed.

"I was going to deal with you later, _princess_. But if you must insist, I have no problem taking both of you down at the same time!" He snarled.

Ganondorf held out his other hand, and formed another sword out of the dark aura surrounding him.

Starfire urged me to retrieve the Master Sword from across the room, and that she would hold Ganondorf off in the meantime. I was worried though; she did not have a lot of experience with using the Spirit's Sword. She told me that she would be fine, then once again told me to go get the Master Sword back. As soon as I went in its direction Ganondorf had rushed forward to attack Starfire. She dodged it with a backflip, and intercepted the rest of Ganondorf's attacks.

As soon as I retrieved the Master Sword, I rushed back as fast as I could to help her. Starfire intercepted another one of Ganondorf's attacks, and their swords were locked together. It was another contest of strength, just like the one I was in previously, but I knew that Starfire had a better chance of succeeding. Unfortunately, it would seem that Ganondorf knew this too, because just then, his sword sparked with electricity. Starfire was zapped as the electric attack hit her sword and she was driven back.

I attempted a few swipes at Ganondorf, but he dodged them all and leapt back, right in front of his throne. I went over to Starfire to make sure she was okay.

"Only a coward would resort to such tactics!" Starfire shouted at Ganondorf.

"Foolish girl, I will do whatever it takes to win this fight and claim the Triforce as own!" He responded.

At that moment, Ganondorf put the handles of both of his swords together horizontally. Dark aura surrounded them again, and now both swords were fused. Ganondorf gripped the handle in the center and rushed at us. His attacks were now harder to avoid, as he had two blades and a free hand to attack us with. Starfire and I worked together to try and avoid his attacks, with me mostly handling his blade attacks while she handled his physical strikes. Our tactic was working, until Ganondorf once again leap back.

He charged his fused sword with dark aura again, but this time he threw it at us. The sword spun around in the air like a buzzsaw and was coming straight for us. We dodged the attack and were prepared to strike Ganondorf. Suddenly though, the blade came back at us like a boomerang. No… it was following us! Ganondorf was somehow controlling the fused sword in midair!

Starfire and I kept dodging the blades, which did not seem like they were going to stop anytime soon. After a very close dodge, Starfire pointed the Spirit's Sword at the spinning blades. Her eyes glowed green, and spirit gem in her sword's hilt began shining brightly. The Spirit's Sword surrounded itself in a bright green aura, and right when the spinning blades were in sight, a beam shot out of the blade. The attack hit the fused sword right in its center, causing it to fall apart. With this annoyance gone, Starfire breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whoa! I didn't know the Spirit's Sword could do _that_!" I exclaimed.

"Neither had I. I found out when I tried to break through the barrier." She told me.

That must've been the attack she used to get Ganondorf to let go of me before. Now wasn't the time to celebrate though. Ganondorf was still standing near his throne, and he looked angrier than before.

"I've had enough of this foolishness! It's time to _end_ this!" He snarled.

Even more dark aura began to surround him, and he lifted himself into the air. While floating above us, he held both of his hands overtop his head. He was preparing for a devastating attack, one that could possibly fell us in one hit if we couldn't stop it. Starfire tried firing a few attacks at him using the Spirit's Sword, but unfortunately, the dark aura surrounding Ganondorf was shielding him. Energy began gathering above Ganondorf, forming into a glowing sphere. If we couldn't stop this attack, he would win.

I then had an idea. I told Starfire that if we couldn't stop the attack, maybe we could deflect it; possibly back at Ganondorf himself. Our swords might be able to do it, but against an attack like this, we'd need to use them both at the same time. Starfire held out her hand to me. I was puzzled at first, but I quickly realized what she was doing. I grabbed her hand, went into spirit mode, and the two of us waited for Ganondorf's attack. The energy sphere above Ganondorf had turned dark red and grown to a tremendous size; about three times bigger than himself!

"Try and dodge THIS!" He shouted.

He let out evil laugh and then hurled the attack at us. The power it gave off was so intense that it was tearing the room apart. We were ready though, and with all of our strength, performed a united spinning attack. The power of both the Master Sword and the Spirit's Sword was enough to send the energy sphere flying right back at Ganondorf! There was no time for him to dodge, and his dark aura shield did not protect him. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the attack enveloped him and exploded.

When the dust cleared, Ganondorf was once again on the ground. He was still standing, but that attack had damaged him so much, he could not move. This was my chance. Now I could finish him off. As I stood in front of him, prepared to end this, I began to wonder if this was really the right thing to do. I had despised Slade ever since that day he attacked me. He had killed my parents, my mentor, and tortured me and my friends. But now I knew that it was not really Slade, but Ganondorf that was behind all of this; and if I struck now, I would be killing Ganondorf, but I would also be killing Slade; who was very well just a victim like the rest of us.

Before I could think about it anymore, I noticed that Ganondorf was beginning to regain consciousness. I didn't have much time left, so almost without thinking, I slashed at him with the Master Sword. My attack left a large gash on his chest, which began to drip unusual glowing white blood, perhaps as a result of the Triforce of Power. A moment later, he fell to the ground dead; or at least I thought he was.

* * *

After the final blow was struck, Starfire asked me to assist her in getting our friends down from the walls. One at a time, we got them down. They were still weakened, but they quickly regained consciousness. Robin was the last one we helped down, and as he regained consciousness, Starfire hugged him. The sight of that made me twitch a little, but I was glad she was happy and that everyone was okay.

"…I guess I don't get a hug…" I said quietly to myself.

However, even with me speaking so softly, Starfire likely heard what I said, because she came up to me and hugged me tightly; not _that_ tight, but tight enough. I did not expect what she did next though; she kissed me on the cheek! This made me blush immensely, and caused me to lose my balance a little when she let go. She could tell that I liked what she did, and giggled softly.

We noticed that Rose was standing in front of Ganondorf's body, or should I say, Slade's body. The look on her face was hard to describe; it wasn't exactly happy or sad. But I could tell that she definitely wasn't happy.

"So… my father's really…?" She began to ask.

I was about to explain things to her, but all of the sudden, the entire tower began shaking! Rubble began to fall from the ceiling, and certain parts of the floor were breaking apart.

"What's happening?!" Beast Boy asked.

"The tower… It's collapsing!" Raven answered. "We need to get out. Fast!"

Without a moment's pause, we rushed out of the room back to the spiraling staircase. It was beginning to split apart, but we were able to descend it quickly before the gaps got too wide to jump, with Starfire and Raven helping those of us who couldn't fly get across.

Once on the first floor, we went as fast as we could towards the entrance, dodging any falling rubble, and beating back any leftover monsters trying to slow us down. Eventually we reached the front door, but it was blocked by a fallen stone column. Starfire, with Cyborg and Raven's help, managed to smash the column apart and out of our way.

We had gotten out not a moment too soon, for the tower slowly began to collapse on itself. It took about five minutes for the entire tower to come down, being reduced to a mess of stone and metal. The battle was finally over… or was it?


	13. 13: Ganon's Revenge

Chapter Thirteen: Ganon's Revenge

Ganondorf had been defeated, and his tower had been destroyed. We had all gotten out before it fell apart, and we were all relieved that everyone was okay. Robin asked me and Starfire what had taken us so long. The two of us explained as much as we could to everyone, and what we had to tell them appeared to confound them. Afterwards, Cyborg looked towards the pile of debris where Titans Tower once stood.

"It was bad enough that Ganondoof guy took my tower and mangled it. But now look at it! This'll take forever to fix!" Cyborg said.

I went up to him and assured him that all of us would help rebuild it. Even so, something didn't feel right, and I wasn't the only one who thought that. Raven mentioned that if Ganondorf was really dead, then why didn't the Triforce of Power leave him?

* * *

Right after she inquired that, we all heard a sound come from the debris, as if something was still alive in there. Starfire went closer to investigate. The ground began to rumble, and dark aura began to leak from the debris. Then only a moment later, a huge explosion burst from the center of the debris, blowing most of it away, and when the dust cleared we saw what had caused it, or rather, who.

It was Ganondorf! He was still alive, and his eyes were glowing yellow. We could hardly believe it, but he had survived having a building fall on top of him! Though he still had a white scar from where I had attacked him previously.

"No way! He's still alive?! After all of that?!" Robin remarked.

Ganondorf overheard this and laughed wickedly.

"Of course I'm still alive. You didn't really think that I would be defeated that easily did you?" He asked us somewhat rhetorically.

"Well, uh… yeah!" Beast Boy answered him. "You had an entire building fall on top of your head!"

"Such simple means as brute force are not enough to defeat someone with the Triforce!" Ganondorf responded.

I guess this fight wasn't over yet after all. I drew my sword and braced myself once again, but to my surprise, Ganondorf merely stood there with a malicious grin on his face.

"If you really wanted to end this, you should have thrust the Master Sword through me rather than merely slash at my chest!" He taunted. "You're still afraid to take a human life… aren't you?"

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I was afraid; afraid to kill another living person. My friends were aware of this as well, but I knew what had to be done. In order to end this; in order to keep Ganondorf from getting the Triforce and taking over the world; I had to kill him.

"Do not worry Link." Starfire told me. "You are not in this alone. Even if you really do have to kill Ganondorf, any guilt will not only be yours to bear. We are all involved in this."

"Thank you, Starfire." I replied.

She smiled and nodded, and then drew the Spirit's Sword and held it in the same way that I was holding the Master Sword.

"Now let us take down this monster… together." She said.

It wasn't only Starfire that was ready for battle, but everyone else too. Robin was ready with a sword of his own; one formed from two of his bird-erangs. Cyborg was ready, even though he was low on power. Beast Boy transformed into an ox and snorted, ready to charge. Raven was ready to throw every spell she had at Ganondorf. And Rose drew her sword; the look on her face gave away the fact that she was eager to take down the man that was once her father.

But something still didn't seem right. Dark aura began to surround Ganondorf's entire body, and the Triforce symbol on his hand was glowing even brighter than before.

"Funny that you should compare me to a monster, because… that is EXACTLY what you are facing!" He roared.

Even more dark aura surrounded him, and he rose into the air. But instead of firing off an attack like last time, the dark aura enveloped him, and his body began pulsing in a disturbing manner. He grew to about five times his original size; his muscles expanded exponentially, and his hands and feet grew claws. His face transformed from the face of a man into a horrifying face which resembled a mix of a boar and a dragon. He dropped back down to the ground, and let out a deafening roar. His outfit had been torn horribly from the transformation. He was no longer Slade, nor was he Ganondorf. He had become a monster.

"Whoa!" Cyborg exclaimed. "W-what just happened here?!"

The gigantic monster that now stood only a few yards away from us took a few ground-shaking steps forward; casting his unholy shadow over us.

"At long last, I am finally reborn! Ganon, the Demon King, lives again!" The monster proclaimed in a demonic voice.

None of us had been expecting _this_! The sight of this imposing new opponent intimidated all of us. Rose however, seemed affected the most.

"I…I don't believe it. I knew that my father was a villain, but… I didn't think that he'd ever be a… monster!" She horrifyingly exclaimed.

"Slade had always been a monster." Robin replied. "Only now, it's visible on the outside too!"

"Whatever has just happened, we had better be prepared for the worst. This _Ganon_ is definitely at a higher threat level than Slade ever was." Raven told us.

We were all aware of this. How couldn't we be; Ganon was a gigantic beast pulsing with dark power! Of course he'd be more dangerous than Slade, or Ganondorf. At this point, Ganon had used his dark power to bring forth two enormous swords for him to use. They were almost as long as he was!

A wall of fire surrounded the entire island, likely set up by Ganon to prevent us from escaping. After staring us down for a brief moment, Ganon let out a roar and charged at us. Robin let out his battle cry of 'Titans, go!' and with that, one of the most intense battles we had ever been in, began.

Each of us began by throwing our best attacks at the beast; attacks that no ordinary villain could possibly hope to survive unscathed. However, to our surprise, Ganon deflected each attack with his twin swords; as if they were nothing! Ganon swung one of his giant swords, and a tremendous surge of dark energy shot out from the swipe. It traveled so far that it hit one of the buildings in the city, and cleaved it right in half! We had only barely dodged the sword itself, if we had been hit with that attack, we would've been done for!

Robin gave us an order for each of us to take Ganon on from a different angle. This way, we'd surround him and possibly catch him off guard. Starfire, Rose, and I flanked off to the left, while Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven flanked off to the right. Robin stayed where he was, directly in front of Ganon, and he made the first of our attacks. He threw several bombs at Ganon to try and blind him, and then rushed in for some close combat. He landed several hits on the monster with his bird-erang sword, and managed to dodge most of his attacks.

"Foolish boy! You cannot avoid me forever!" Ganon taunted.

Robin had dodged another one of Ganons sword attacks, but was surprised when a large scaly tail came flying at him. Robin wasn't able to dodge this, and the attack knocked him back, only inches away from the wall of fire. We had not noticed that Ganon had a tail before; either we were distracted by everything else that had happened, or that he just now revealed it.

Ganon may have knocked Robin back, but I had just enough time to rush in and catch him off guard. I swiped at Ganon with the Master Sword, which left large gashes in his arms and legs. Just when I had thought my attacks were effective against him though, to my surprise his wounds healed instantly, no doubt because of the dark power. I was distracted by this and failed to notice Ganon's sword coming right at me! Fortunately, Starfire swooped in and got me out of there just in time.

She was next to attack, and aimed several of her starbolts right at the glowing scar on his chest. When one of them hit, Ganon let out a painful roar and stumbled backwards a little. Starfire had the right idea! The scar on his chest was likely his weak point! She attempted to fire an energy beam at the scar, but Ganon had caught onto her plan and shielded against the attack with both of his swords. He then charged his swords with more dark power and sent another dark energy attack at us. With Starfire's help we were able to dodge just in time, giving an opportunity for Rose to advance on him.

Ganon attacked, but Rose managed to slip underneath of his sword attack, just barely dodging it and attacked his scar with her sword; right on target. Ganon stumbled back again, but still appeared unscathed.

"I can't believe that you allowed this monster to take you over, dad!" Rose harshly remarked. "And you had the nerve to say that _I_ was the weak one!"

Ganon laughed maniacally at her comment, and stared down upon her wickedly.

"Your father is dead, little girl! I am all that is left, and my power is INDEFINATE!" Ganon roared.

Ganon was about to attack Rose again, but before he could, Raven and Cyborg had each sent an attack towards him; Raven using her shadow powers, and Cyborg using his sonic cannon. Both attacks hit the sword on Ganon's left hand, and hit it with enough force to cause him to lose his grip on it; sending it flying straight into the ocean. This attack made Ganon angry, and he turned to face them.

"Brace yourself, ugly! Cause I'm about to open an entire factory of canned butt whoop on you!" Cyborg shouted.

Cyborg blasted Ganon with another sonic blast, but this time Ganon blocked it using only his hand! The dark aura surrounding the hand he just used to block Cyborg's attack turned the same blue color as his sonic cannon, almost as if Ganon had absorbed the attack.

"An interesting sound… but I like mine better!" Ganon mocked.

At first we didn't know what he meant, but just then he bent down and roared directly at Cyborg. To our surprise, along with the roar shot out a beam of energy that was the same color as Cyborg's attack, except that it was bigger. Cyborg attempted to dodge the attack, but its range was too wide and it blasted him back to the edge of the wall of fire. So Ganon could send our attacks back at us? This was going to make things more difficult.

While Ganon was laughing at the fact that he hit Cyborg with his own attack, Raven sent more magic spells at him, one of which attempted to surround him and lift him into the air. However, her spell failed, and Ganon now focused his attention on her.

"Insolent whelp! You dare to challenge me in the arts of magic?!" Ganon snarled.

He then raised his hand, and some unseen force gripped Raven and threw her across the arena over towards Beast Boy, who attempted to catch her, but instead she crashed into him and knocked him down. Well… at least he broke her fall. Regardless, once Beast Boy got back up, he transformed into a T-rex and charged towards Ganon, roaring viciously. But Ganon managed to intercept Beast Boy's charge, and thrust him down to the ground. Before he could get up, Ganon grabbed Beast Boy by the tail and slammed him into the ground some more. Afterwards he spun Beast Boy around a bit and threw him across the arena towards Robin. Fortunately, Beast Boy changed back into a human right before the collision.

"Now do you understand?! Nothing can stop me from claiming what is rightfully mine!" Ganon boasted.

This comment apparently wasn't going to stop Robin though, because he got back up and charged at Ganon once again. He tried to fight his way towards Ganon's weak spot, but Ganon blocked every one of his attacks and then swiped at Robin with his free hand. He clutched Robin tightly within his monstrous hand and held him in front of his beastly face, gazing with hatred in his eyes. Robin struggled to break free, but Ganon was too strong.

"How pathetic. And to think, I once thought you were the perfect apprentice. Bah!" Ganon mocked.

He then threw Robin into the ground in front of him with enough force to create a small crater. Robin weakly tried to get up, but with Ganon's sword coming right at him, there was no time for him to dodge. At that moment, I came rushing in to help, and blocked Ganon's sword with my own. Robin was kind of surprised, but also relieved. I told him to get out of the way, because I did not think I'd be able to hold back his attack for long. He thanked me and then moved as fast as he could. Ganon's attack kept becoming harder and harder to keep back, and since I was in spirit mode right now I couldn't keep this up for long.

"You would come to the aid of _him_?! The very same person who took the one you cared for the most?! The one who wrecked your life?!" Ganon asked rhetorically, although I don't think he actually cared at all.

"I…was the one who wasn't able to accept that… things change." I said while still trying to hold back Ganon's attack. "He may have made life more… difficult for me. But I'd never wish for anyone to die because of that!"

The Master Sword started to glow brighter after I had said that, and I felt a little stronger. Had the sword reacted to what I said? Whatever had just happened, it affected Ganon, because now I was able to push him back a little. It still did not feel like I had enough strength to counter his attack though, and I was running out of time. I was at a loss of what to do.

* * *

However right at that moment, Starfire came up next to me, drew the Spirit's Sword, and clashed it against Ganon's sword along with my Master Sword. Now both sacred swords and their wielders were working together, shining brightly to cast back this evil.

"You are not in this alone, Link! It is as I told you before; I will _always_ be there for you! No matter what!" She told me.

Even while I was still struggling to hold back Ganon's attack, a tear fell from my eye in response to her comment. As we both continued to overcome Ganon in this contest of strength, Ganon laughed and claimed that our little bond was nothing compared to his power. However, he was wrong, because with the power of the two sacred swords, and the power that came from the bond that Starfire and I shared, Ganon's sword broke in half!

"No! Impossible!" Ganon shouted as he stumbled back.

This time it was my turn to shout 'Titans, go!' as each of us hit Ganon straight in the scar on his chest with our best attacks. Robin swiped several times with his bird-erang sword. Rose slashed in several directions, claiming that this attack was for her family; her _real_ family. Cyborg went at Ganon's weak spot with one heavy punch which made Ganon stumble backwards. Raven used one of her spells to grip Ganon's tail and swing him around like he did Beast Boy, and while he was spinning, Beast Boy changed into a Triceratops and bashed his head into Ganon, sending him towards the center of the arena.

Ganon was able to get up after that, and attempted to bring forth two more weapons using his dark power, but he was too slow and Starfire slashed at his weak spot several times with the Spirit's Sword. This not only caused him to stumble backwards again, but it also seemed to paralyze him. Seizing the opportunity, I rushed towards him and this time, without a moment's pause, thrust the Master Sword straight into the scar on his chest. Ganon let out a painful roar, the loudest one so far, and I was thrown back from its intensity. The Master Sword, however, was still lodged in his chest, still glowing brightly, and I knew that he couldn't remove it.

Ganon fell to his knees, and the dark aura around him began to fade away. As it was fading, we noticed that he was changing back into his human form, Ganondorf. The light of the Triforce of Power on his right hand was also beginning to fade. Once he was back in human form, he weakly stood up, with the Master Sword still lodged in his chest.

"Impressive, kid… you certainly have the power of those that came before you…" Ganondorf weakly told me. "But do not think that this all ends simply with my death…. One day, I will return in a new form… and besides… you still have your own evil to deal with…"

With his last breath, Ganondorf let out one last evil laugh, and then choked. He fell to the ground, and this time he was, without a doubt, dead.


	14. 14: The Hero's Wish

Chapter 14: The Hero's Wish

The battle had finally been won. Ganondorf, who was formerly Slade, who had caused all of the terrible events that had transpired, had fallen before the power of the Master Sword, and the strength of my friends. The storm clouds that had hung over the city were beginning to clear away, revealing a city that had been heavily damaged from both Ganondorf's rule and the recent battle. Starfire came up to me to confirm that I was alright. At this point, I wasn't entirely sure.

"I knew it had to be done, but… I just wish there could've been another way." I told her.

Everyone agreed with me. We knew that Ganondorf had become too powerful and dangerous to be left alive, but I still couldn't help but feel bad about killing another person, no matter how much of a monster they were on the inside. It was also Rose's father that I had killed, and we could all see that she was a bit torn up about it.

"Rose… we're sorry about your dad…" Robin said to her.

Rose quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled herself together.

"No, it's fine…" Rose claimed. "My father died a long time ago… when that monster took over. At least now… what's left of him… can rest in peace."

That was a rather nice way of putting it, but I still regretted that there was no other way. I walked over to Ganondorf's lifeless body and pulled the Master Sword out of the area where I impaled him. Right afterwards, the Triforce symbol on his right hand began glowing brightly again. I quickly stepped back, fearing that he may come back to life. But this was not the case; instead, a shimmering golden triangle rose from his body and hovered in midair. It was the Triforce of Power, and the fact that it had left him no doubt meant that he had been defeated for sure!

At that moment, both my left hand and Starfire's right hand began glowing, and our respective Triforce pieces, the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom, left our bodies and went to hover near the Triforce of Power. The three Triforce parts then rose high into the air and combined in a brilliant flash of light. The sight was so vibrant that we all had to shield our eyes for a moment. The completed Triforce then descended back down to Earth, hovering right in front of me and Starfire.

"This is the Triforce?! It's beautiful…." Starfire commented.

The others had been surprised that Starfire had held the last part of the Triforce. They had been unconscious when she and I had found out, so they were just figuring it out now. But we all remembered what the Triforce was supposed to do; it was supposed to have the power to grant any desire. Everyone agreed that since I was the one that dealt the final blow to Ganon, that I should be the one to make a wish. That made sense, and I thought for some time about what I would wish for.

"Link? Is something the matter?" Starfire asked me.

"Well, it's just that… I can't think of anything that I'd want to wish for." I answered. "I feel like I already have everything that I'd ever want."

Starfire smiled in response to my answer, commenting that I had a very good heart. I offered her to be the one to make a wish, but she wasn't really able to think of anything to wish for either. But after a moment of thinking, and seeing our city in a wreck, she had an idea of what to wish for; a wish to return the city to normal. She suggested that we both make the wish together. I did not think that it was necessary for it to work, and she knew that too, but she simply wished for the two of us to do this together. I was touched by this; and to think, I once thought that she didn't care about me.

Both Starfire and I reached out a hand, placed it upon the Triforce, and wished with all of our might for the city to be restored. When we stepped back, the Triforce began to shine even brighter, until its light enveloped the entire city. We were able to witness the various buildings and areas within the city miraculously being repaired by the Triforce's power. This included Titans Tower, which was magically being rebuilt. Cyborg was tearing over in joy as his tower stood tall once again.

"Booyah! Titans Tower is back, baby!" He exclaimed.

Once the city had been completely restored, the Triforce once again rose into the air, much higher this time, and disappeared.

"Hey! Where did that Triforce thing go?!" Beast Boy asked.

"It's probably returned to its resting place in the Sacred Realm." Raven answered him.

That was obviously the best place for it to go; beyond the reach of mortal beings. We all agreed that the Triforce was too powerful to be left in this world. Now there was one last thing to do; we had to do something with Slade's dead body. We decided to construct a grave for him at the Jump city cemetery. After all, Ganondorf was the real villain. All this time, he had been using Slade's body.

Once back at the Tower, Rose decided that it was time for her to leave. We insisted that she stay, but after everything that had happened she didn't feel like she should stay in this city, at least not right now. Starfire asked Rose where she was going to go now. Rose simply said that she would go where the wind takes her. Before she left though, Robin gave her a titan communicator, insisting that she keep it so she could call us in case of an emergency. She thanked us, and then after bidding her farewell, she headed off to her next destination, wherever it may be.

* * *

Later that day, we were all gathered in the ops room, going over everything that had happened. Starfire was explaining to the others what had happened while she and I were on Tamaran; how she learned the truth of her people's origins, and how she and I traveled across Tamaran to find the Spirit's Sword. She showed everyone both the Spirit's Sword and the Goddess's Harp she had brought back with her from Tamaran. While she was telling everyone of our adventure, I was over at the window, staring out at the city. Ganondorf had been vanquished, but for some reason, something still didn't seem right. I recalled the last thing that Ganondorf had told me before he died: "You still have your own evil to deal with…"

"Hey dude! What'cha doing over here? The party's over there!" Beast Boy told me.

I hadn't even noticed he was behind me. I claimed that I was going to join the others in a few minutes; I just needed some time to think first.

"Y'know dude, with that Triforce thing you could've wished for anything. _Anything_!" Beast Boy said. "And you just used it to rebuild the city?"

"Well, yeah. I couldn't think of anything else to wish for." I responded.

"I know one thing you could've asked for." Beast Boy said while nudging me on the arm. "That _thing _that you want most in the world."

He then gestured towards Starfire. I knew what he was implying; he was suggesting that I could've wished for Starfire to fall in love with me. While that was what I would've liked most, I'd never want her to love me because of a magic wish, and I explained this to Beast Boy.

"If I want Starfire to like me that way, I'd want it to be by her own choice, not because of being forced by magical means." I explained.

Right at that moment, Starfire flew up to us and asked us what we were talking about. I blushed and struggled for a bit to think of what to say. Fortunately Beast Boy came up with an excuse, saying that he was apologizing for all of the pranks he tried pulling on me, and also commended me for pranking him back better. Starfire was convinced, and then urged the two of us to come over to the table so we could join in celebrating our victory. On our way back, I thanked Beast Boy for helping me dodge that one. He told me that it was no problem, saying that 'us guys in green should stick together.' I laughed slightly at that comment.

Once at the table, I sat next to Starfire, who had saved a seat for me. Everyone was eager to hear what I had to say about mine and Starfire's adventure on Tamaran. As I told everyone about what happened, such as meeting Lanayru on Tamaran, our encounter with the Glourge beast, and finding the Forest of Light, the others were listening intently. They all looked impressed, except for Robin and Raven. Robin was probably impressed, but had a somewhat sour look on his face; maybe it was because I had spent so much time with Starfire. Raven was probably impressed too, but she looked indifferent, like she usually does, so it was hard to tell.

* * *

Later, while everyone in the tower was off doing their own things, I was in the training room practicing with the Master Sword. Wooden boards were set up for me to practice on, and with the Master Sword, I was able to take them all out in less than a minute. When I cleared them all, more would pop up for me to practice on. I kept at it to see if I could take them all out faster. After a few minutes, Starfire entered the room with her Spirit's Sword.

"Link? Um… forgive me for interrupting, but… would it be alright if I joined you in training?" She asked me.

She no doubt wanted to continue where we left off before, when I was helping her learn how to use a sword. Once again, I was flattered that she had come to me to learn how.

"Of course you can, Starfire! I'd love it if you trained with me!" I answered.

She was delighted to hear that, and the two of us continued practicing against the wooden boards. I'd much rather train with a friend than all by myself, especially since it was Starfire. She was getting better, but she still had a long way to go until she'd be able to master using the Spirit's Sword.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the Tower and across the bay, a lone figure was gazing at the tower with a malicious smile on his face. None of us were there for this part, but the person gazing at the tower was Ghirahim, and he had a very sinister look in his eyes.

"It would seem that Link and his little friends have managed to defeat Ganon…" He said to himself. "Marvelous! Now that Link has bested the previous Demon King, I know for certain that he'll be perfect for what I have in store for him!"

Ghirahim began laughing maniacally at the thought of what he had planned, whatever it was. Whether or not we'd be prepared for it, was uncertain at the moment.


End file.
